FlorenceTale: Rebirth of a Nation
by Puppy von Wolfenstein
Summary: Sequel to My Name Is. Frisk is determined to keep her friends safe! She must become a diplomat and reclaim the country of Burgen in the name of the monster nation... Bergentrückung! Frisk and friends face many obstacles, but the biggest one is yet to be known. Determination got her through it, but can it save those long forgotten? ... "It's not over yet."
1. It's not over yet

Hiya.

This is PvW, bringing to a close Frisk's Undertale and beginning the next chapter of her life above ground. This is a *sequel* to _**My Name Is**_ with Frisk getting the true pacifist ending, or as I called it, **The Angel** ending.

This fanfic will be rated M due to my first fanfic being quite graphic and I'm not sure if the graphic nature will return so I'm playing it safe.

For those who have forgotten a few things (It's been a while since I last posted something due to life), a recap will follow.

Thanks for reading my trash. Undertale belongs to Toby Fox.

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 **Prelude: It's not over yet**

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Devoid of warmth, the slender silhouette of a pale girl watched as a wet book came tumbling down from the water fall.

"What do we have here…" she whispered, her ruby eyes glancing down and immediately feeling a pit in her stomach. "Ah… you're infamous above ground, Azzy. Let's see what it says."

 **San Marcus Folklore: The Devil's Mountain**

"Once upon a dreary midnight,

Many, Many years ago

The noble Takashki family suffered a tragedy…

Their prized slave had disappeared."

The girl paused, her eyes ablaze. " _Slave_!? I have a name! The indignity of it… _disgusting_." With a heavy sigh, she continued to read.

"The town's assassinations were solved,

And their family head lay dead"

The girl paused with a smirk on her lips, although her uneasiness was apparent in the way her fingers seemed to tremble. "…you deserved it. They all deserved it." She whispered, blinking away the sudden stings that had befallen her eyes before continuing to read.

"The devil surfaced with the slave's remains

Bringing misfortune to the town thereafter.

The mighty mountain did erupt!

The solid ground did quake!

The healthy people became ill!

And so did the town investigate.

A cave was found, with unknown growls

Surfacing from a hole that led underground.

To this day, the mountain is cursed

The devil's playground, it's said.

All who wonder there disappear,

Souls bound underground."

The girl chuckled lightly, turning her head with a sudden gasp. Beside her shoulder stood a tall white figure dressed in almost all black with a scar underneath his left eye and a scar on the right side of his skull. "GASTER! Don't sneak up on me like that! JEEZE!" She snapped, shifting away and noticing the sudden intrigue in the book. "Souls bound underground…? What a great ending, if I do say so myself. This phrase is has certainly been true in the past, and I'm sure it's still true in other timelines. According to this text… you were a mere slave, Chara?" asked Gaster without so much as looking at the girl, his eyes glued to the text.

"I was a _noble_ slave. My mother's side of the family belonged to some deranged commander from the invading east country. Our family was kept on leashes because murder is what we knew best, and our blood line strengthened his. That nut job deserved the death my sister Tara gave him. Anyways, since when are you so interested in me?" asked Chara, letting herself sit down on a pile of rubble.

"Besides myself, there are two people I can speak to now. Speaking to oneself will drive anyone insane, therefore, making small talk, even with you, betters my mind. I'd rather not… descend back into madness." Gaster spoke, his eyes looking up and flashbacks of the alternate timeline where he had lifted his hand against his beloved wife Ariel had once more haunted him. He turned to Chara, noticing that familiar angel behind her. "And _you_ , woman… I tire of always chatting with you. Must you always pester me, Florencia? Do you not have a child to look after? Or has your duty as her mother stopped now that she has freed the underground?" asked Gaster, looking at the angelic figure of a human woman of long brunette hair.

"Gaster, I'm telling you that I'm still worried! That Vinnie computer sister whatever she is, is still out there in another timeline! What's to stop her from ruining our happily ever after?" asked Florencia, looking down and remembering the android who had almost destroyed the underground as well as the world. A true menace, a being obsessed with purity and perfection whose objective was to destroy all organic and magical lifeforms.

Chara got up from the rubble with her arms crossed. "Azzy and I destroyed her! She fell into the friggin' lava, no way she's coming back into our world."

A grim silence ensued, broken by Gaster who shook his head. "You're wrong, Chara. Our world is still connected. If I were to jump to another timeline within our universe, I don't know if I could come back the same monster, which is why I will stay away from the other timelines."

Chara's throat felt dry as she gulped, her hand slapping her forehead. Of course. Vinnie's prized piece of technology that let her access this crazy power over the world.

Just then, the laughter of Frisk and MK rolled in as they chased each other throughout the hills of garbage. They came to a stop beside the waterfall, both children tired out and in need of a good break.

"Heh, I think we lost Papyrus. You okay, Frisk?" asked MK, noticing that she was looking down at her heart locket with sad eyes. "…yeah. Yeah, I'm okay, I'm just… a little sad. My locket isn't the same as it used to be. It used to be warm to the touch." Frisk spoke, her eyes wondering around the waterfall as though she were desperately looking for someone. But she was gone. Chara was gone. After everything that happened… she was gone. Frisk had forgiven her for everything she had done, why did she leave? She… she didn't even say goodbye. Her spirit was gone.

MK nudged her gently. "It's okay, Frisk. I-I can get you another locket?" he asked with a blush, looking away in hopes she wouldn't notice his embarrassment. He glanced back, noticing the way she looked up the waterfall. "That's okay, MK. I'm ready for tomorrow now. I got to see him again."

MK sighed. Frisk hasn't been the same since she went to 'take care of a flower', somewhere in the ruins.

Across the veil, Chara sat down beside Frisk, her eyes looking into hers that seemed a bit watery. "I'm not leaving you behind. It's not over yet." Frisk whispered to herself as her hand clasped the heart locket tightly.

"She's determined to save Asriel." Spoke Gaster, standing tall behind Frisk as he added, "As brave as she is, she's still in much mortal danger."

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… _ **the next day…**_

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 _ **"C-Corre! Vive! Vive!"**_

It had been some time since Frisk had last heard from Chara. It had been some time since... that, happened.

And today was the day.

"wake up kid." Sans nudged her, noticing the way she scrambled out of bed with a fearful face. "another nightmare kiddo?" he asked, sitting down beside her bed, watching as she silently nodded her head. "…my mother. All I hear is her voice… I… I'm forgetting what she looks like, dunkle sans." Frisk confessed as she fiddled with her thumbs. Even after everything that happened… Frisk still had quite a lot of unanswered questions about her past life. Worst yet, she was beginning to forget what she did remember.

"WAKEY WAKEY SPAGHETTI AND… SPAGHETTI! OH! HUMAN, YOU SEEM TROUBLED. DID YOU SLEEP WELL?" asked Papyrus who had kicked the door open with a plate of his new and improved spaghetti.

Before Frisk could say another word, Undyne came into the room with her spear in her hands. "I HEARD TROUBLE! WHO'S IN TROUBLE!?"

Sans noticed the concern in Undyne's eye, figuring out that perhaps she had overheard Papyrus and was trying to cheer Frisk up. Lately, she's been… quiet. Mk had spoken to him about Frisk's behavior, and as concerned as Sans was… he was still trying to rebuild his relationship with the child. After all, he deeply hurt her with his lies and cover ups in the past. Perhaps Frisk was just a little on edge about leaving the underground today.

After all, today is the day.

"Thanks guys, I'm okay. I'm just a little tired… But I'll be ready for today, for sure! Going to the real world… going… to San Marcus…" Frisk managed to say with a half-smile, her eyes darting to the old ballerina shoes in the corner of the room. After everything she's been through… it was time. It's been several months since she freed everyone from the underground, but no one had left yet. After breathing fresh air for the first time, all of her friends had decided to wait until Frisk said it was time… after all…

It was too dangerous. That's why she convinced King Asgore and mother Toriel to postpone the scouting party until today. Everyone else in the underground had begun to pack their belongings, had begun to get their hopes up of leaving the underground and settling down on the surface.

Diplomatically, The King and Frisk had decided that they would try their luck with a small party, make sure that it was safe for everyone else to come out. To win over the humans, to… reestablish the monster-human diplomacy.

"Frisk…" Undyne said, leaning against the bed post. "It'll be alright. King Asgore, and I will be your body guards—nothing will get past us!" she grinned, but Frisk only seemed to get more nervous. "hey, no **sweat** about it, kid. i'll keep you safe. dunkle sans is a skeleton of his word." Sans tried to reassure, his fingers wiping away the sweat that had begun to build up around Frisk's forehead.

Frisk hesitated, but she took a deep breath.

"Sans… I'm scared of my father. I'm so scared of losing everyone."

Silently, everyone came together to comfort Frisk, but Sans knew that there was nothing anyone could do to ease her fears. From what he learned of Frisk's past life and what her father was like… it was understandable for Frisk to worry for their safety. Then again, Sans was more scared for the girl. What if her father tried to kill her again?

O..v..e..r h..i..s d..e..a..d b..o..d..y

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PuppyBarks:

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Hiya everyone!

Sorry it's been a while. I meant to post this on the first day of summer… whoops! For those who followed my previous fanfic, I apologize for not updating it with the *DETERMINATION and *LOVE endings. One thing led to another and I'm now a busy bee! I thought I might as well follow through with my promise of a sequel. Wrote this as quickly as I could, and I'll try to update this fanfic every month or two (or more if time allows). I don't know if I'll be able to write those looooong chapters like I did in my last fanfic since I'm quite busy, but I'll try! It's just not me if I can't passionately write ;-;

I'll answer a few questions you might have.

In the previous fanfic, I wrote TWO *love endings, each with different details and points of view. The reason I did that was because, just like in the game, there can be different types of endings, or timelines. Those two chapters are in fact TWO different timelines with the pacifist ending. The two chapters seem to be the same, but there's actually quite a lot of different things going on at the same time. There's a reason why I switched it up and gave it different points of view or different scenes. Everything that happened in both chapters that didn't involve frisk happened in both timelines… I just didn't want to rewrite it… aaand it gives the readers reason to read the chapter D:!

Perhaps some of you are wondering if I'll ever finish the *DETERMINATION and *LOVE endings. Honestly, I'm putting those chapters on indefinite hiatus. I apologize, but you'd be surprise how much hard work and effort I put into each ending, trying to make sure each chapter is fresh. Perhaps someday I'll post them. But for now, it's a definite no.

Questions about Vinnie… Yes, like Gaster said in the prelude, Vinnie is still in fact out there in the multiverse. Her invasion is perhaps inevitable sometime in the future, since, somewhere, out there, in another timeline, Chara and Vinnie have destroyed the underground and perhaps their world.

For those wondering about the *love: Redemption ending… it's as is. Their world is no longer connected, due to Chara severing the connection. All is well, as it was written. The Chara of that timeline is at peace.

For this timeline, love wise (since in Redemption, Frisk marries Blooky, oddly), Frisk is… still a young girl. Eventually, she'll have options, but for now...? No ships yet. Sorry! Later on! (tho the Frisk X MK looking kinda nice, they're kids guys)

As for the timeline where Gaster and Chara have wreaked havoc? (With Steamy and Ariel) Will we see it in the continuation? The answer: Yes. Yes you will.

What about the SOULs of the six children? I would like to believe they still exist. They will make their appearance soon enough!

I can't think of questions others might have. If you have any questions, feel free to ask!

Chapter One will be posted soon. Stay stuned!

And above all, thank you!


	2. The Stars at Night Reflect You

Hiya! PvW here.

I am *DEEPLY* sorry for the wait. My dearest computer died, along with all the saved endings I was working on for **My Name Is** as well as the second chapter of this fanfic. It was super long, and I just don't wanna retype it at all. Therefore, I will try to keep it short and to the point… and I'm sorry if that's disappointing. Also, I may or may not keep future chapters shorter than the previous fanfic since I no longer have as much time on my hands. I'm a married wife with… eww, responsibilities.

And now… the first chapter of a very long journey.

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Chapter One: The Stars at Night Reflect You

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The great remains of Aster walked out of the cave alongside the party of five, his eyes adjusting to the great light that came beyond the caverns. "WOWIE! IT'S JUST LIKE I REMEMBER IT!" Papyrus beamed, pointing towards the falling sun. Beside him, his mentor tried to hold in her excitement, but her grin was far too wide. "It's… beautiful." Undyne breathed out.

A chuckle emerged from beside Aster, her pale hand hiding her smile. "Aren't they adorable. It's just the sun, jeeze," Chara mused, her eyes also looking into the sunset with a fondness to it. "To think, I almost destroyed that… Well, that's enough of the sun for one day. Come on, Florencia, you'll go blind if you stare at it too long—I think? Do ghosts go blind?"

Sans lingered behind at the mouth of the cave, his right hand gripping unto his phone. "...I better not regret this." He breathed out in a serious tone, his eye flashing blue for an instant. Feeling ghostly eyes on his back, the short skeleton finally began to walk out towards the rest of the group, his easy going smile returning when he saw Frisk look back at him. " _ **For her."**_

Aster watched as his eldest son caught up to the small party, his smile faltering. "Do you really think it wise to communicate with him, Florencia? I know he hates me. There's nothing to prevent him from despising me with his every fiber, not after everything that I've done. I'd rather you save your fading energy than to expose yourself to phasing out against your will."

The angel that had long pushed him around with her weird faith and antics was no longer radiating that same passionate beam of light that she had before. That almost heroic aura that she had about her, the divine light that would make any mortal think she was a goddess or truly an angel was fading — Slowly but surely, Aster could see that Florencia would eventually fade out of existence. The veil of existence where both he and Chara existed… it was never her domain to reign. She was mortal with with an iron will to defend her daughter at any cost, a mortal who somehow transcended the plane of existence that bounded mortal souls. She found the empty void, all in efforts to keep a silly child safe. And now, now that the said child has left her prison and was freed into a dangerous playground, that mother was desperately trying her best to stay intact in the cold, empty void. Adult mortals… their SOULs… There was a reason only children could reach the underground.

"Gaster…" whispered Florencia in her thick accent, her hand gently moving her lock of hair out of the way of her eyes. "My very existence was impossible. Flor, was an impossible. In your other timelines across dimensions, what you say… other versions… my Flor was never your Frisk, you know this. Right now, what I do know is that my baby is in danger if that hombre (man) gets his hands on her while drunk! I also know that your two sons are in danger in our violent world. I must do what I can to make sure this… this 'timeline' of ours stays positive. My red SOUL that Frink inherited… now that she knows the path she must take, I know that I fade as she ages. I feel it. Your idea of SOULs and capturing them… instead, I know my SOUL will cease. So please, Gaster… I beg you. Find pity in the bottom of your heart, and do me one last favor."

As interested as Chara was, her eyes drifted to the small dots in the distance. "I forget all of this is new…" She mumbled, turning back to Aster who looked perplexed by how fragmented Florencia's speech was. Still, he knew the gist of what she was trying to say.

"...Yes, SOULs are needed to be captured in order to keep their form. You… supposedly gave your SOUL to Frisk, however that's impossible. If anything, SOUL essence rubbed off on the child, and children are naturally more in tune with magic. However… your guess about yourself… scientifically speaking, well…" Aster fumbled with his words, looking away as he finally composed himself. "What I mean to say, is that yes, your conclusion about Frisk aging is correct. Every time Frisk would reset our world, your timer reset, so to speak. Now that the time has… well, been kept ticking, so has your form. I do believe, however, that if Sans were to keep recharging your form, you'd last much longer than what your normal life expectancy would have been. But… yes, you're inevitably leaving us. It makes sense. No form should be able to reach both the void and their world. With that said… what is your last request, mortal angel?"

The sun had slowly been setting, and how, its round body was close to the horizon. The dark orange lit sky sparkled with a few stars that shone brightly, the darkness of night coming swiftly. "My last wish, Mr. Gaster… Well, no use leaving my daughter in your care. Toriel has that part settled. No, no my wish is more complicated than that, senor. I want both you and Chara to talk to River Person. They know everything, I know this. Talk to them when the time is right, and then return to the alternate timeline that you both ripped apart. That poor mother and wife deserves answers. Toriel and Arial. As a mother, to a mother… tell them I grieve their sorrow. That is my only string of regret, knowing I was a part of it, and that is my last wish, Senor Gaster. Tough one, isn't it?"

The twilight of it all all shined in her eyes.

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The night sky twinkled of real stars above the monsters. For Sans, it was… a dream come true. They truly did shine and twinkle, like her mother had often told him. For Asgore, his memories of a time when he and Toriel both roamed these lands as two teenage lovers flowed back. To Undyne, the vast sky showed her that there truly wasn't a limit to the world. Lastly… for Papyrus… These stars…

 _Flashback_

" _THESE ROCKS ARE PRETTY, BUT NOTHING LIKE STARS AT NIGHT." Ariel smiled weakly. "HERE, YOU KNOW THE CEILING IS THERE. OUT THERE… THE WORLD… YOU LOOK UP, AND FALL BACK, ARMS WIDE, AND REALIZE HOW SMALL, YOU TRULY ARE."_

 _Papyrus laughed as his mother fell back, running to her side to but finding a frown. She turned her head to Sans who was many feet away with his skull to a telescope. "IF ONLY HE COULD SEE IT, AND REALIZE, THAT LIFE IS SOMETHING MORE PRECIOUS THAN HIS SCIENCE. YOU'RE PRECIOUS, MY PAPY. ALL LIFE IS PRECIOUS. NO MATTER HOW SMALL INSIDE A VAST WORLD… LIFE… THE STARS REMIND YOU OF WHAT TRULY MATTERS IF YOU LET YOURSELF SPEAK TO THEM."_

 _End of Flashback_

Frisky looked down as she knelt beside Papyrus. "Are you okay?" she asked with worry, staring at the skeleton who had just let himself fallback. "YEP. MORE THAN ALRIGHT. I AM SPEAKING WITH THE STARS, SEE, IT BLINKS BACK ANSWERS!"

Frisk looked up, looking at everyone else who had shrugged. "Well… It's getting pretty dark. Perhaps we should camp here tonight, and then map out our trail." Asgore suggested, taking out an ancient map of what used to be his homeland.

Undyne set down a large backpack, looking around. "Seems like good place as any. LETS CAMP!" She shouted with excitement, however, that excitement soon died down. "...So… Asgore… how do we camp?" she asked, looking at him stare at the old map.

Sans stared at Frisk who had cuddled herself next to Papyrus. It's been a while since she did the same with him. With an empty sigh, Sans shook his head and gave a defeated shrug. "...heh… i guess i'll go get sticks or whatever."

Asgore nodded enthusiastically. "Yes! We need sticks, some dried or dead leaves… good rocks that can make a spark… Meanwhile, Undyne, I require the lamp. I must map out our location. If we follow the ancient routes… I'm sure the routes haven't changed as much. We should reach a plot of empty land soon, and there… well I'm sure humans must have settled there. It used to be a command center for the monster army, and there… well, I'm sure there's nothing left. We never really built any buildings, just tents."

Sans turned around, looking back at the group and how they started to settle down. With a flash of his eye, he disappeared, teleporting further ahead, there he saw a small clearing. Walking slowly, he looked around the empty forest, noticing that there was an old footprint. And another. And another. He made his way to the end of a small cliff, realizing that all these footprints were different. He could see lights further away, in the distance, along with smoke rising in the air, much too far to reach them. A fresh fire… burning something. It was clear then… Frisk's humans were still around the area. And those footprints… they were looking for her. Still, for her humans to have searched this part of the mountain meant that they had thoroughly looking all around the mountain. Frisk came from the other side of the Underground… on the other side of the mountain. That was where her village was at. If that was the case, than what were those lights in the distance? Who were they?

Lost in his mind, Sans contemplated the possibilities for a while. A little too long. Frisk's hand startled him when he felt her warmth on his hand. For an instant, his eye flashed blue, scared for his life, but thankfully he composed himself. He looked at Frisk who stared back at him with fear, frozen in place in having seen his blue eye once more. "I'm so sorry kid. Please, forgive me. I-I thought…" he quickly explained himself, his serious voice startling Frisk once more. Sans took his hand back and stepped away from the child, fear now taking a hold of him. "I, I didn't mean to hurt you, kid. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry." He pleaded, falling down to his knees and lowering his head.

Gently, her hands cupped his skull and lifted it, her brown eyes looking at him with compassion. "I-It's okay, dunkle Sans. I'm sorry I scared you. I was worried about you, and came looking for you. I… I see lights there. And smoke. I see smoke." Frisk whispered, looking in to the dark horizon. "...It's near the old ruins left behind by the old settlers before us. My father took possession of a mansion near them… those must be the lights. And that smoke… I… I don't know. But I remember, when I left… there was so much smoke and fires. There was… a lot of blood spilled."

Sans eased up and decided to sit on the cliff, patting the space beside him. "I see. That can't be good… but don't worry. I'll keep you safe, I promise. This blue eye will never hurt you again, Frisk. I'll be your watch dog, got it?" Sans winked, but that serious voice of him stayed. It was so different.

"Sans… you're not the same Sans." Frisk managed to say, sitting down beside him and letting her head fall unto his side. The short skeleton snorted a laugh before replying, "And you're not the same Frisk, but let's forget about us for a minute. Well… what I mean to say is, you and me… we've seen things that they haven't. I know Papyrus doesn't remember what happened… no one does. But we do… and, yeah, that changed us both. You know the real me. The real Sans. The nerdy goof who loved science and his father so much that when it all exploded on him, he just…"

Frisk looked up and noticed his lazy grin was replaced by a soft frown. "I changed into someone I wasn't. A lazybones who would rather deflect things than to deal with them, head on. And you, missy… you had to endure Chara AND me. My lying, my deception… but you still trusted me. You had to endure the bad blood between you and me, our fights. I know it's not the same. You're not as close to me as before. I don't blame you, kid. What I'm trying to say is… let's forget the uneasiness. Set it aside. We're both uneasy with each other. Let's just… work to a better future now. I promise to protect you, no matter what, from your anyone and everyone, including your old pops."

Frisk looked away. In the distance, Undyne's voice drifted their way. "CAMP'S READY!"

Sans stood up, helping Frisk off of her feet and away from the dangerous cliff. " come on kid, everyone's waiting." Sans spoke, his easy going smile returning along with that familiar voice of his. His hands were tucked away inside his jacket, walking slowly towards the camp. To the side, Frisk put her arm around his, walking silently as the two enjoyed the silence that enveloped them.

All was quiet in the forest that night. Still, the stars reflecting on Frisk's eyes screamed to Sans. What did they scream? Fear? Love? Indifference? No matter. All he needed to do was look up and realize the stars reflected everything he loved. Papyrus and Frisk. They were now his everything.

To Frisk, the stars above shone brightly, so bright that there was only one thing she could think of: Mama. Radiant, and warm... hard to see and so far away.

Quiet, and patient like the night sky… she must be watching over her, huh?


	3. Too Early for Trouble

PvW here, just wanted to say that I will try to get into a writing schedule. For shorter chapters, estimated time will be 2-3 Days. For longer Chapters, expect it to be a delay of 4-10 days. So… I hope to update this fanfic at least once a week considering I left a few of ya'll hanging with the last fanfic. My bad ya'll. Here's hoping my fingers can type ubber fast.

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Chapter Two: Too Early for Trouble

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For Frisk, the rising sun at such an early time of the day was… not something she hoped for. She just wanted to roll back to sleep, but, sadly, the firmness of the earth beneath her removed any comfort she had felt in her deep sleep. Instead, once everyone had finished packing, she had let herself be hoisted away by Asgore, his strong and muscular form easily carrying the little girl who found his fur and mane quite comfortable and… fluffy. While the human slept in the arms of the king, Undyne walked up ahead with alerted eyes, looking around the dirt path. "Someone passed by here recently." She muttered, looking back to the weary group behind her. Papyrus seemed somewhat alert, but was dragging a sleeping Sans by his jacket, whereas King Asgore seemed jubilant and energetic enough to run through the forest all day. Perhaps they all should have slept early like him.

"UM… UNDYNE… IS THAT A HUMAN?" asked Papyrus, pointing into the forest to their side where an obscure object seemed to be hiding behind some bushes. The scent in the air was foul, and flies seemed surround the area where this mysterious thing resided. Asgore took a step back when he realized that a bloody boot seemed to be sticking out of the bush. Noticing the King's reaction, Undyne quickly summoned her spear and motioned Papyrus back, her hand gripping the spear. "HUMAN! COME OUT!" she snarled, her heart beating fast as she surveyed the area around the bush. There seemed to be bullets riddled around the nearby trees and gun shells on the ground.

After several minutes of silence, Undyne looked back to King Asgore who seemed grim. "It's alright, Undyne. The human won't harm us now. We should move on."

Papyrus didn't understand what was going on, and stared at Undyne who had an uneasy expression. "UNDYNE… AREN'T YOU GOING TO INVESTIGATE?" he asked innocently, his hand letting go of Sans' hoodie and making his way towards the bush. Immediately, Undyne shook her head and intercepted Papyrus. "It's uh… not safe! Keep the King and Frisk safe for me while I investigate alone, okay?"

While King Asgore and Papyrus slowly made their way down the mountain path, Undyne stopped in front of the bush, the foul stench strong. The ground was littered with bugs, and to her side, Sans stood with a lazy grin. " i guess the investigation is a _**dead**_ end, heh. here, i'll poke it with a stick. if it moves, it's alive, but uh… i doubt that it's… it's...it's… jeeze. that's... that's something."

Undyne had grabbed a larger stick, sighing as she rolled her eyes. Sans and his puns. Just as he had grabbed a smaller stick, she had moved the most of the bush's leaves to the side to reveal a ghastly body. Much like her observations, it was riddled with bullets, quite a lot of them actually. Too many. "talk about overkill. someone really wanted this punk dead. by the looks of it, probably one of the people looking for frisk. and... this was an execution. notice the way his hands are almost forming a triangle, almost like he was holding his head. no, i take it back, he was holding his head. look."

Sans looked to his side where Undyne looked away in disgust. "How can you look at it?" she growled with anger. The small skeleton simply smiled, getting a better angle of the unusual headshot. "It died with the first bullet entering both of this hands, penetrating his skull, and if the gun was powerful enough, it should have exited and… hmm, it should have landed somewhere around here…Come on, help me look, Undyne."

Left in awe, Undyne simple stared at the short skeleton whose voice and tone had changed so quickly. Even the way he stood had changed. He seemed slightly taller now that he wasn't slouching, and his lazy grin was replaced by a nerdy expression of interest. "N-no! Are you listening to yourself, Sans? Look for a dirty bullet that killed someone? Are you NUTS?!"

For a second there, Undyne could see Sans had suddenly realized something. He hesitated but finally spoke. "Heh. I guess it's weird, but uh… I want to know what we're dealing with here. A simple gun didn't do all this. The first gun shot wound is different from the rest that seem to be coming from the same gun, and it's spray area tells me that either the gun is hard to control and shoots really fast, or, they just took their sweet time and reloaded every six shots. But the latter is impossible, so, I must assume that we're dealing with very deadly and advanced guns. The first gunshot wound was powerful enough to penetrate two hands and an entire skull. That gun is very deadly from any distance. So think of it as gathering intel, eh?"

Silently, the two monsters stared at each other until an understanding was made. With a simple nod, the two of them searched in a line, until finally Undyne found it. "Sans…. Take a look at this…" Undyne half whispered, her eyes wide with amazement as she traced the invisible line back to the decaying body. "Wow, good job, Undyne. And here is our mystery bullet… really… really stuck in there. Huh. Mind carving the bullet out of the tree?"

*********°*********•*********°*********

Papyrus escorted Sans and Undyne to King Asgore and Frisk, both of whom were enjoying some packed lunch that Toriel had packed for everyone. "HERE THEY ARE! YOU TWO REALLY TOOK A WHILE. IS EVERYTHING ALRIGHT?" Papyrus asked, noticing that Undyne was very quiet. She silently looked over to Sans whose lazy grin was plastered on his face, his right hand inside the pocket of his jacket where the bullet they found was. "Y-yeah. We just… we were playing an 'I spy' game. You know, the forest is so… different from the underground."

King Asgore looked up, his eyes meeting Undyne's and quietly understanding what she meant to say. His glance changed to Sans who looked back at him with his grin, his hand coming out of his pocket with a metallic glint coming from his palm before he put back his hand.

"Oh…" he whispered, turning to Frisk who looked into the river that was near them. "Frisk… We're getting near civilization, I believe. What do you think we should do?" he asked, noticing that she had gotten more nervous.

In that moment, Sans' left jacket pocket vibrated. He swiftly took out his phone and noticed a text message from Florencia.

"UR IN DNGR. STAY N FOREST. NO GO MANSION. HE LOOKS 4 FLOR. SHADES R FRNDS."

*********°*********•*********°*********

Aster glanced at the angel who let out a tired sigh, her eyes drifting to the skeleton who read the message she had sent. Quickly, he put away the phone and his head turned towards the edge of the forest that fast approached. "Florencia, I must insist that you—" Aster began to say, but the short skeleton had gotten up. "we can't leave the forest guys. king fluffybuns, you have seen humans before… what if… they're not ready for us just yet? maybe we should scout the area while hiding in the forest… you know… be safe with the kid in tow?"

Florencia turned to Gaster with a wide smile. "It worked, Senor Gaster!" Her voice seemed jubilant with her effort, however, Chara didn't seem to share in the emotion. Instead, the young girl walked towards the river and looked down upon it, almost remembering the way she once looked into it.

"Do you really think that by being the messenger of bad news you'll stop them from running into them?" asked Chara, turning to Florencia who shook her head. "Of course not. But I have to believe in those that care about my child, and if they see that she trusts them with her life… then… maybe they'll give them a chance before they attack?"

Aster's eyes rolled down the angel's arm where her icy bracelet still clung around her wrist. "I suggest we scout ahead of the living, and see what intel we can send to Sans. These two bodyguards of yours, Florencia… do you really think they won't shoot on sight?"

The dying angel simply smiled. "They loved us, and they'll love them for loving her."

*********°*********•*********°*********

"JEFEE!" Shouted the younger guard, turning to his older friend who took labored breaths. "Estoy muy viejo para esto…" (I'm too old for this). Up head, their boss hid behind a brick wall, looking to the side every so often. "You'll have to do better than this…" he whispered with rage, closing his eyes before quickly getting up and shooting in the direction of the last gunman. Behind him, Jose, the younger guard began to cover him with as many bullets as he could, until finally, Don Pablo got the last one of them straight in the head.

"Are you okay, Isidoro?" asked Jose, turning to the man beside him who bled from his arm. "I'm fine, I'm fine," he spoke with a thick accent, waving away the concern and wincing as the younger man inspected the bullet wound. "It's not that bad... you're lucky." Jose grinned, but immediately he stopped and turned pale. Behind Isidoro, Don Pablo stood with his arms crossed. "Que bonito…" (How pretty) he joked, slowly clapping as his serious face slowly turned into a laugh. "We survived the raid, boys! Can't say the same about them, but we're alive!" he laughed, his bloodshot eyes glancing at the dead bodies all around them.

Isidoro shook his head. "Don Pablo… those were our friends." he sternly replied with his back to Don Pablo, his heart racing as he wondered if he would be shot in the head, or left to live. Jose was frozen in place, watching as Don Pablo grabbed his glock, his menacing eyes lit with anger but while he contemplated his options, there was a softness in his eyes that appeared.

"...Isidoro, you've worked for me and my family for as long as I remember. These meatbags don't mean anything to me, but you… I respect you. It's because I respect you that I'm going to drive into town and get that no good doctor in here to fix you up. And you," he spoke, his gaze turning to Jose. "Your life depends on his, got it?"

Jose gripped Isidoro's good arm and helped him up as their boss, Don Pablo turned around. He took out a flask and merrily drank from it, almost as if what had happened was merely an illusion.

"Do you think it's a good idea to let him drive while we're being targeted by Don Gustavo?" asked Jose, watching as his boss jumped into the black SUV that had a few bullets on the door. "Jajaja! No. But… but who am I to tell him to stop now? He's gone crazy with grief…" Isidoro answered, balancing himself before putting pressure on his wound. "Come. We must continue to search for Flor." Isidoro spoke, his voice gentle with a few grunts as he stepped towards the asian ruins. "Estas loco!?" (You crazy!?) Jose bursted, walking alongside of him.

"Si. Muy loco. Soy 'El Loco Isidoro'" (Yes. Very crazy. I'm 'Crazy Isidoro') he chuckled, looking at Jose who took out a pair of shades. "Oh yeah… I wondered why people called you that. So… what do we do if we run into more rivals?" Jose asked, taking out his gun and inspecting the bullets he had. Not many.

"Eh, we shoot and hide. Pray we get lucky. I prayed last night and I'm at peace with God, I don't know about you." Isidoro remarked with a smirk, following closely the dirt trail opposite of the forest.

Watching them, the three ghosts got closer.

Florencia was the first to speak. "It's them. Isidoro y Jose."

Chara skipped on over to the two humans, noticing the old guy had been shot recently and that the younger guy looked familiar. Thinking back on it… she realized who it was. "It's the guys that drove her to her death. Florencia, that's your big plan?! Drive her back to Daddy Big Gun so she can get shot in the head again?!"

The two men continued to walk, the older man shuddering. "Un espiritu." (A spirit) Jose looked at him with an incredulous look. " _Really_? It's probably the mountain air. But I guess there might be ghosts around. I heard that this old asian village was overrun with disease back when it fell. That the reason why this part of the asian history survived was because it was cursed. Anything that was moved, destroyed… it killed people, made them crazy. Legend says a red headed succubus would lure people out here… and they're show up with their head on the road as a warning."

Chara head snapped back to the talking guy, completely disregarding Florencia's words. "No, they'll protect them all, I'm sure." Florencia had said, but stopped when she saw Chara's sudden interest. Aster himself seemed suddenly interested in this part of history. A red headed succubus… A female demon…? Well… that sounded familiar.

Isidoro looked up ahead, noticing what he thought was a skull peeking out from the woods. He raised his hand and Jose stopped, staring at how serious Isidor looked when he turned to him. "Un… muerto! C-c-calavera…!" (A… Dead person! S-s-skull…!) he exclaimed in a hushed whisper, pointing into the distance where a bush rustled.

Chara noticed it as well. "Florence… they're about to make contact. Send in the kid alone, they're scared of the skelly brothers."

Aster floated over to Florencia who closed her eyes, her hands grasping hard unto each other like a prayer. "Sans… send Flor alone to gain their trust. Be careful… they have guns. One of them is injured."

*********°*********•*********°*********

In the distance, Sans took out his phone. "Send Flor alone. Gain trust. B crful. Guns. 1 injrd"

Papyrus sat on the ground, grasping his long legs. "HE SAW ME! A REAL HUMAN SAW ME. WHAT DO WE DO? DO WE CAPTURE THEM?" Papyrus asked, clearly shaken by the sudden, if distant, encounter. Undyne knelt down, grasping her spear with a sudden wave of energy. "Just give the word, Asgore. I saw one of them with a gun."

While Sans looked down at his phone, King Asgore and Frisk stared at each other, both of them knowing fully well that their journey was never meant to be easy. King Asgore had hoped that his first encounter with humans after so many years would yield fruitful… civil… without violence. But after what Undyne and Sans uncovered, he slowly came to realize why Frisk had been so apprehensive about returning to the surface. Why she would sometimes try to convince the monster population that living underground wasn't as bad as it seemed.

"...wait… let frisk go meet them. undyne and i can wait in the shadows, back her up if something's _**fishy**_." Sans spoke up, looking at Undyne who gave a nod, not even caring if he sneaked a pun in that sentence.

King Asgore looked at Frisk. "My child… I do not want to put you in harm's way—" he spoke, but immediately, Frisk hugged him. "I'll be safe, and you can look out for me too. Throw fireballs if they're funny."

To the side, Sans put away his phone and peered through the bushes where the two men seemed to be cautiously walking towards their general direction. It was distant… but they were headed their way nonetheless. He hoped Florencia was right about this because if she wasn't… there was no way to RESET. Frisk wouldn't be fighting monsters, she'd be fighting humans and they don't make a fighting arena. No, they fight physically, no magic. No magic meant that Frisk wouldn't have the blocks she usually has. No SOUL to pop out. Of course, Sans wouldn't allow anything to happen to her, so he hoped he was faster than bullets. He could see that one of them was wearing shades, just like Florence had said… which meant she should be safe. Still… would they trust monsters…?

Frisk took a deep breath, looking at everyone with determined eyes. "I'll yell at you when its safe." And with that, she stepped out from the bushes, her arms waving in the air. "HELLO! AYUDA! (Help!)"

In the distance, Aster could see Frisk flagging down the two humans, and he turned to them, noticing that they both had turned pale. "Senorita…? No. No lo puedo creer. Se mira mas grande…" (Senorita…? No. I can't believe it. She looks bigger…) Isidoro whispered to himself, grasping his wound as he began to walk faster towards her. Jose gulped, reaching for his gun, but instead of pulling it out, he pulled out a silver dagger. "Wait… this works on ghosts. What if that's not her?" Jose asked, trailing behind Isidoro who seemed to have thrown caution to the wind. "SENORITA!"

Chara looked at Florence. "Ghosts? Really? A silver dagger works against ghosts? What in the heck does your culture do for fun?" Chara asked, noticing the slight laugh coming from the tired angel. "We believe in the day of the dead… makes sense that we value the dead, and their interactions with us… that dagger belonged to my father, actually. I can't believe he has it… I thought I lost it."

Teary eyed, the angel looked onwards, watching as Flor stood confused while Isidoro embraced her. "Huh… do I… know you?" she asked, her head rested on the shoulder of the older man that had knelt down and embraced her with all his strength, ignoring his injury. Her eyes watched as the man with the dagger slowly approached, his hand letting go of the blade as he reached out to her from a few feet away. "...F-flor…?" he whimpered, tears slowly streaming down the shades he wore, conceling his teary eyes. "...I-it's me, Jose. Cool guy Jose, I used to be with you all the time, remember? R-remember?"

Frisk could feel the urgency in the embrace she was in, and she stared at the young man as he revealed his eyes, his smile weak as he approached her. "If you're lost you can look-and you will find me…" He sang, his voice cracking as he stared at her, expecting her to continue the song she used to love singing all the time.

Instead, the girl was silently staring at him, her eyes conflicted. As she was processing his words, he noticed that she was very different. Her hair wasn't as long, and her face had thinned out a bit, and stretched as she had grown but… but it hadn't been that long. She looked a bit older, but that was impossible at least in the amount of time that had passed. And her clothes were tattered, and old… too old. It was not consistent with it being a few days.

"...time after time." She finally whispered, her eyes shining as her memories slowly came back. She looked at him expectantly, and he could only clear his throat. "If you fall I will catch you-I'll be waiting…" he sung, watching as Isidoro let go and sat on the side, grasping his injury. Slowly kneeling down with his arms open, Jose watched as the girl jumped into his arms. "JOSE!"

Back behind the bushes, the monsters watched as Frisk hugged the human. "JOSE!" they could hear her faintly. Asgore turned to Sans, noticing the smile that had crept up. Papyrus also seemed very pleased. "ITS ONE OF THE HUMANS SHE HAD TALKED ABOUT, BEFORE SHE FORGOT ABOUT HIM AGAIN. FRISK IS VERY FORGETFUL… SHE FORGETS ABOUT MONSTERS TOO IF SHE DOESN'T MENTION THEM AS OFTEN. IT'S… WEIRD." Papyrus admitted, noticing that Sans looked away at the mention.

Finally letting go of Jose, Frisk looked back to the bushes. "Senorita, w-what happened to you? Where were you?" asked Isidoro, noticing that Frisk had frowned. "...I… I fell. I fell inside the mountain… and they took care of me for a year. Please don't hurt them… please…" Frisk begged, crying as her hands reached out for both of theirs.

Jose looked to Isidoro. "Un ano?" (A year?) Isidoro gasped. That was impossible. It was only a few days ago that…

"Santo dios…" (Dear god…) he muttered, his eyes falling on a short skeleton who walked toward them. Jose jumped back, but immediately Frisk took several steps back with her arms out. "Don't hurt him! He's my friend. He's like… he's like…" Frisk began to say, but was at a loss of words when it came to describing her relationship with Sans. The skelly stopped once he was beside of her, extending his hand out. "Heya. Sans the skeleton, guardian of Frisk-err Flor. Well… she changed her name to Frisk, or something. Are you going to hurt monsters with that sword, buddy?"

Jose looked down at the silver dagger that Sans pointed to. He looked at Flor and saw her genuine concern for this monster, and Isidoro simply threw his hand in the air. "I'm hurt, so no, I will not hurt the skeleton if Flor asks me to. She is our lady, and her words are our command… just like Lady Florencia, god rest her soul."

Sans flinched. "Florencia? You knew her?" he asked without thinking, sparking shock in everyone's faces. Frisk simply stared at him as Isidoro asked, "Yes, I took care of her with my life since she entered Don Pablo's life. She means more to me than him… how do you know her?"

Sans could feel new gazes on his back… the group. They were coming their way too. Sans took a deep breath before answering. "...she's an angel looking out for this kiddo. I met her in her ghostly appearance… she fears your "Don Pablo' will kill Frisk aga-err well that he will kill her on sight. Something about drinking and guns." Sans nervously chuckled.

Jose stared at Asgore with awe, gulping as he looked up at the tall creature. "W-who are…" Jose muttered, pointing to Asgore and Undyne.

Frisk smiled calmly, walking to Jose and Isidoro, taking their hands. "They're my family. I got adopted by King Asgore, king of the monsters that were trapped inside the mountain. I set them free… and now I want to keep them safe from evil. Safe from my dad. Please… I want to live peacefully with my goat mommy and daddy, and dunkle Sans and… and my monster family."

Silently, Jose and Isidoro stared at each other. "...Si Senorita Florence dice que es su nueva familia, y si la cuidaron… me vale madre si tenemos que cuidarla de Pablo." (...If Lady Florence says they are her new family and if they took care of her… I don't give a damn if we have to keep her safe from Pablo.)

Jose looked back at the road. "Don Pablo, eh?"


	4. Magic Meets Legends

PvW:

So I uploaded the last chapter and for some reason when I edited the estimated time for new chapters it didn't update using the fanfic editor -_-. So, I didn't want to edit it since I noticed it a day or two after I uploaded. Anyways, for short chapters it will take an estimated 2-5 days, while longer chapters may take 5-14 days, excluding sundays, because that is my off day to be a couch potato. But yes, I will try to upload *AT LEAST* once a week. If I post more than once a week… yay?

*********°*********•*********°*********

Chapter Three: Magic meets Legends

*********°*********•*********°*********

The two humans walked ahead of the group, their heads nodding and exchanging hushed voices. Sans looked into the forest where thought he saw a sudden glint of light miles away from their current location, somewhere up in the mountain. He could only hope that whatever it was… that it was friendly. It was too close to the cave for comfort. What if maniacs went inside and started shooting? What if they returned to a dust filled cave? What if…?

His phone vibrated once more. "Saw it too. Gonna chk it."

Sans let out a sigh of relief, but was quickly startled when Papyrus' voice resounded in his head, and his hand grasped his shoulder. "YOU GET A SIGNAL? NO WAY!"

"Ah! ah... ahh, papy… ya scared me, heh. ya really rattled my _**bones**_ ," he winked, grinning as Papyrus groaned and gave him space. To his side, Undyne walked closely to King Asgore, her spear still summoned and very much gripped by her right hand. She looked _tense_. Then again, who wouldn't be? Strangers in a foreign land with their King walking openly about with crazy maniacs who shoot and execute people? Jeeze.

Jose shook his head. "Isidoro… Is this really, really happening? Talking skeletons, a goat king, and a mermaid? Can we really trust them?" he asked, looking over to the man's old gaze as he looked over the horizon. He looked weary and pale, perhaps from the gunshot, and the sunlight reflecting on his head highlighted the grey hairs that had popped into his black hair. "Maybe it's the devil himself, tempting us with her… but even then, I'd follow Florencia and her kid into hell. Can't be as bad as being with Pablo, and I probably deserve it too." Isidoro replied with a tired voice, grunting as he made his way to the bench that sat outside the mansion. Jose looked back where Flor looked at the small skeleton with slight curiosity and… admiration? No, perhaps it was something else. Whatever it was… how could she not be afraid of the monsters? How could her story be real…?

Jose's train of thought was interrupted by Flor's sudden shout. "I-Isidoro!"

Turning his head, his legs quickly jogged over to the old man who had collapsed unto the gravel in front of the bench. "H-hey! Viejo! Despierta!" (H-hey! Old man! Wake up!) He pleaded, shaking his friend but realizing that he was only in a deep sleep. He was still breathing, thank god. But it didn't look too good. He turned to the mermaid who had suddenly joined him, her blue hands inspecting the wound and quickly tearing a piece of her tank shirt off. "He's bleeding out on us. Why didn't you bandage it up?!" She barked at him, but Jose could only shake his head with his words stuck in his throat. It hadn't really looked that bad, but then again, the old man has been exerting himself ever since, huh? All because he didn't want to stop looking for Flor.

"...Isidoro…?" he whispered as he was slightly knocked back by Flor who had come to his side. "I just got here…! Please don't leave me!" She pleaded with tears swelling in her eyes. To the side, the small skeleton seemed to be more involved with his cell phone, his fingers tapping away and the light flashing quickly, as though he were receiving messages. Beside Frisk, the tall goat man extended his arms, making a huge space. "Give him some air. Undyne, please help him as best as you can. I… cannot heal him. Toriel is the healer."

Jose's eyes widened as a ball of light seemed to have shot out from the cell phone. The small skeleton himself looked bewildered. The tall skeleton who had idly stood to the side fiddling his thumbs looked in awe as this ball of light began to get brighter, yet smaller, until eventually it situated itself on the gunshot. It was only a matter of seconds before it shot itself back towards the small skeleton. Jose watched as it went past him into the empty area where a large skull manifested itself and… and it shot a giant lazer? A beam of light? Then another Skull appeared and joined it… and another… and another.

"S-sans?" Flor questioned, watching as Sans stared at the small orb of light grow bigger and bigger, slowly taking shape of a woman.

Her voice rustled the hairs on the back of Jose's neck. "...Flor…"

*********°*********•*********°*********

Back in the underground, Grillby sat on the comfortable science chair as he'd call it. There he could observe his homework that Sans had left for him during his 'miss-cation'. A mission and vacation, he called it… still, his 'miss-cation' meant that he was to be left in charge of the underground's well being, and that was a bit overwhelming.

He looked over some of the files that he and Sans had been going through, some of them created by his sister, Steamy, and left with some bits and pieces of her comments or thoughts. It was nice to read these small tid-bits, specially if it concerned him. It made… all of this seem real. That he really had a sister, and that… she really did in fact exist before Gaster destroyed himself and her, and ultimately a lot of monsters and a whole sector.

The fresh cup of coffee reenergized him as he gave away his last yawn, his gaze looking upon new information he had recently dug up on himself. Indeed, Steamy and this… doctor before Gaster had really gone out of their way to fix him, or rather, fix what they could. He had never realized he had at one point been deathly ill, but here he was, healthy as ever.

As he skimmed through the doctor's report and jargon, something on the monitor caught his attention.

"Uh… what is that…?" he asked himself as he straightened his back and leaned in closer. He saw that numbers were suddenly surging and turning red. What did it mean…? What did Sans say that it meant…? "R-red stats, red stats, red stats… oh, here. Red Stats means an… anomaly? Contact me immediately…"

Grillby glanced at the numbers as they continued to surge for about another minute before they suddenly went back to normal. During that minute, he noticed that a few sectors in the underground were… strange. Surveillance cameras that Sans had installed showed glitching in the skies, sometimes in the ground, in water, in lava… what did that mean? The world only glitched when Chara was— Chara! Was she alive?

Without a second thought, Grillby grabbed his trench coat and put it on, covering his head with the attached hoodie. There was only one other monster who he could both trust and depend on.

Time to pay ol' Gerson a visit. He was the perfect companion for a miss-cation.

*********°*********•*********°*********

The refined doctor walked the bright woods near the entrance to the underground, his eyes coldly watching the humans that rummaged around. "There was a campsite around further down, and all we found was long strands of blond hair and brown. The brown should be the girl's… we're not sure about the blond. Could've been a native who found her. We should check the governor's mansion again—" one of the bulky and armed man spoke, but another who was dressed in a white suit and who smoked a cigar shook his head. "Pablo and his men have their base there, I doubt he'd continue living there if he were on his own. His people in the town are a distraction, he's trying to lure us into the mansion. No, no. I've had enough of this charade. Keep looking for the girl and bring her alive if possible. She's worth more to them alive… I'm going back home. Keep me updated."

Aster narrowed his eyes, watching as the cocky man whose thick accent and yellow tinted teeth began to walk away using a handheld device that somehow showed him a moving map of his location.

"Si, Don Gustavo!" the armed man saluted, waiting until this 'Don Gustavo' was far enough. "Pinche guey." (Damn dude) His rectangular jaw and thick neck gave way to his body which was bursting with muscles. On his back he had bizzare gun that was long and had this curved rectangular thing attached. Could this perhaps be the gun the type of gun that sends a barrage of bullets? To Aster, it seemed impatrical to use it for normal shooting, unless it was meant for longer distance, to which it would need a scope of some kind which it was missing. No… this bird for brains certainly lacked finesse, and the people he walked with did too. Four more guards… a squad of five. Still… it was dangerous how close they were to the entrance. With the way they seemed to be combing the mountain, it was only a matter of hours before they start ascending upward towards the cavern. They would no doubt be curious, and unfortunately, once they realize that the cavern is much longer and lively, they'll begin to descend into the monster world.

Aster could no let that happen.

Just as he was to make haste toward Frisk's group, a flickering of flames caught his attention from the distance. Up high on the summit where the cave entrace was located, a familiar flickering flame stood tall and to his side the elderly tortoise stood tall, his hand caressing his long beard.

"What in the world are they doing out here? Something must have happened to the underground…? What in blazes…? Florencia!"

Luckily for him, the squad of men didn't notice the flame at the entrance. No. Their attention was turned to the sounds of monstrous beams of light firing one after another.

Without another thought, Aster's refined form turned into a giant blob that zoomed through the void in the direction of the mansion.

*********°*********•*********°*********

"Florencia!" Aster shouted as his blob form came to an abrupt stop. Chara stood watching the spectacle, but her focus was on two demonic eyes that were shrouded in a similar black mist. A blood curdling laugh echoed all around them, but just as Chara figured, none one except Chara, Aster and Florencia could hear it.

Before Aster could ask, Chara looked over to him. "She appeared shortly after you left. She latched unto the old man's injuries and was feeding off of them… She almost killed him. She's a very powerful demon, Gaster… she's been collecting power over centuries. Florencia is no match for her, we have to help her."

Aster watched Florencia's full figured form appeared before the living, their faces struct with divine awe.

"Flor… corre! Corran adentro!" (Flor… run! Run inside!) Her voice urged them as she turned to the side where the demonic aura intensified and began materializing into black goopy tar.

Sans could feel the intensity of the moment, his bones chilling. It was almost as if… Chara was around. But that was impossible! And even if it was her, this intensity… it was like nothing ever before. It was on a whole new level. "RUN KID! Its dangerous right now… trust us!" Sans yelled, noticing that Papyrus flinched. King Asgore seemed confused but he could only nod as he took into his arms Isidoro who had awakened. "D-dona Florencia…? Santo dios… es un angel…" (M-mrs. Florencia…? Dear god… she's an angel…) His weak voice trailed off as he once more fell unconscious. Jose picked up Frisk without a second thought, his arms holding her tight as he ran ahead of everyone. "Over here! This is the safer part of the mansion!"

Undyne tugged on Papyrus' battle suit and began to follow King Asgore and the human. "I'M… I'M STAYING WITH SANS. I'LL BE BE FINE."

Aster could feel his blood boiling, even if he theoretically didn't have any. "Who is she?" he asked with a frosty tone. Chara couldn't blame him, after all, it ran in the family. The globs of tar began to take form of an adult woman, her maniacal smile identical to the one that Chara used to have.

"Well Gaster, meet my mom, Lara Takashki. She's the reason why all the villages in this country banded together once, instead of waging their wars. They came together to kill her, and when they finally achieved it… I guess she became this. I never would have thought…"

Florencia narrowed her eyes, beams of Gaster Blasters finally coming to an end. Sans took several deep breaths, his eye twitching as he looked in the general direction that Florencia seemed to be looking.

Aster could hear noises coming down the road, and so when he turned, he saw several black SUVs coming their way. "Rotten luck." he gritted, turning his head to the other side where he saw white SUVs rolling up. "Sans' blasters caught everyone's attention it seems. Florencia! We need to get them to safety, damn you woman! Hear me! Come back to the empty void, you silly thick headed woman! You'll perish!"

Chara looked down. "Gaster, she's not the one in immediate danger you fool! Sans and Papyrus are out there, they're just standing there with human mobsters all around them! We can't do anything but watch…"

The angel, having noticed the danger that Sans and Papyrus were in, shined a bright light towards this demon. The human seeming woman was dressed in a traditional robe that was lightly tied around her abdomen and very much open on her chest, revealing a black v-necked tank top that still revealed quite a lot of cleavage. Her red eyes shined with blood lust, her tongue licking her lips and passing her white pearly teeth that apparently also had two fangs. Her robe reached her knees and it was cut at the sides so that her long legs could be shown off, and her long black boots rubbed the earth beneath her. "It's been so long since I've met a nurturing ghost. These lands tend to break the wills of good people… it's almost intriguing. Your power is fading, I can see that much… but that monster re-energizes you. **Unlimited power. I** _ **want it**_."

Sans gulped as the light illuminated something in the empty space. A woman's figure had begun to appear… a woman who looked very familiar. "Y-You're not Chara." Sans spoke, unable to steel himself and his words. To his surprise, the woman seemed to have lifted her murderous aura and laughed. "Chara? That's my younger daughter, or she was until she got herself killed. She was useful nonetheless. She and Tara plagued the town and the surrounding villages until they all but died, empowering me more. I couldn't be prouder of them… how do you know her, exactly?"

In the distance, Don Pablo approached the scene holding up his hand as he approached Florencia's figure. On the opposite side, Don Gustavo approached with bodyguards cautiously trailing behind him. "La muertita…" (The dead woman…) he muttered with a pale face, his eyes shifting to the short skeleton near her.

Sans' right hand began to tremble nervously, his heart beating hard against his rib cage as he realized the trouble he was now in. "...it's all for her… it's all for her…" he repeated to himself as he looked at the stand off between the angel and the demon.

Lara's amused expression fell flat. "I said… **How. Do. You.** _ **Know.**_ **HER**!" She lashed out, her hand gripping the hilt of her long blade that had resided on her waist. It created a yellow shockwave that Sans had barely avoided. He looked behind him where the tree had been struck and found to his surprise that the tree was still very much intact… but it had begun to… die? The leaves had begun to turn yellow and brown, slowly falling to the ground as the bark began to slowly turn grey. The succubus was taken aback by how the skeleton was able to instantaneously teleport a few feet away with the flickering of a blue eye. Perhaps the angel was no match for her, but the skeleton could certainly prove… problematic.

Florencia glanced at the two dons who were taken aback by the outburst of Lara. "Leave now, demon… this world is **NOT** your domain! It's for the living!" Florencia commanded, her hand waving mystically towards Lara and soon rays of sunshine seemed to burn deeply unto the flesh of the woman. With flared nostrils, Lara sneered. "You ain't living either… but you cling to what you can, huh? Fine. I see a war ensuing anyways… plenty of food to feast on." She winked, turning to Don Gustavo and Don Pablo before turning into a black mist.

Chara could feel her throat in a knot, her head turning to Aster who seemed to have sighed in relief. "Get out of there, Florencia…" he muttered as he watched the scene before him unfold.

Sans looked at Florencia who floated over to him. "I… don't have much time left. Must save my energy. I'm dying, Sans, yes, I'm sorry I told you so suddenly in such a dire time. Dr. Gaster, Chara and I—" Florencia spoke in a pained tone, but immediately Sans interrupted. "Chara? She's alive?!"

Don Pablo began to run towards them, his guards following closely behind with their weapons drawn and aimed at the rivals that stood on the other side.

"Si, si, yes, look Sans, I can't keep this form much longer. I'm going to turn into an orb of light, disappear on you. Tell Pablo 'Florencia is disappointed in you. You broke your promise. Love Flor and her friends, or I will **never** forgive him.' Be careful…" her hasty voice spoke, turning to Pablo with an angry expression as she shook her head and turned into a ball of light. Just as she had said, she indeed disappeared once she had hit his ribcage, and all that was left of this… battle of good and evil was a confused Sans who was in mortal danger.

On the other side of the veil, a weary Florencia collapsed on the ground as a ball of light. Dr. Aster immediately knelt down and held the ball of light close to him. "That was very stupid of you, woman! So dangerously stupid and uncalled for!"

Chara heard his voice hitch, and she looked away, pretending not to see or hear him. Instead, she watched as Sans spoke to the murdering bastard. For a moment there… she actually felt sorry for him. The great and powerful Don Pablo that she had met on several occasions through Frisk was now reduced to a crying buffoon who was on his knees and pleading to a skeleton to bring back his dead wife. "How the mighty have fallen…" Chara mused, gazing over the spot where her mother, her actual mother had once stood and had spoken of her. Spoken of her children with such… indifference. In the end… Toriel and Asgore had been the parent's any child could wish for. Chara just wished she could have realized that sooner.

"Pablo Gomez… we meet at last. My condolences… but I guess they're not needed if your wife is still around, eh?" Smirked Don Gustavo, his armed men coming closer to Sans and Pablo.

Sans watched as Pablo stood up, his hands wiping away the tears he had shed. "My wife thinks I have broken my promise because of you… now I must make it up to her. So, Don Gustavo… let's call it a truce."

Sans steadied his shaking hand, his gaze turning to Papyrus who had been hiding the entire time behind a nearby roll of hay.

"Truce? Why, when I can kill you right now? Tell me what advantage you have, that I don't?" Don Gustavo asked calmly, his eyes glancing around the mansion. Sans immediately realized this was his opportunity. Before Don Pablo could speak, Sans grinned. "Hey buddy… you ever seen one of these before?"

Both Dons stared as Sans' blue eye flickered, and his gaster blaster appeared behind him. Immediately, guards on both sides had armed themselves and were pointing towards Rex.

"What'da'fuck?!" Don Gustavo gasped, taking several steps back. "W-w-what…" He stuttered, and Sans nodded. "Yeah, the giant beams of light that attracted you here? That was me. But hey, I'm a nice guy. I don't want to get involved in whatever you two have going on…" Sans spoke, his eyes flickering many times as gaster blasters began to surround Don Gustavo's mob of gangsters. "...but I will if you don't leave Bergentrückung. This country belongs to the monster nation, and we want our land back and free of mobsters, got it?!" Sans threatened, his blue eye flickering wildly and his voice low and dangerous.

Don Pablo himself seemed at a loss for words, until finally, he spoke. "Gustavo… the legends are true. You saw her yourself… you saw the succubus that every fisherman at the port warns people about. You see this skeleton with its magic dragon head and ray of death walking among us… you opened a can of worms the moment you killed my wife, you bastard. You must've opened some portal to hell on the mountain, and I'm not sticking around for it. Let's do this the classic way, back home."

From the corner of his eye, Sans could see Frisk taking a peek outside from the barn door, her face turning pale. Even so, Sans couldn't let up. This was a crucial moment. The humans could fold, or they could call his bluff and murder him right then and there.

"Bergentrückung, huh? Nation of monsters? Haha… you know what, skeleton? What the hell, this is one hell of a trip! Let's see if the monster nation is real. This forsaken country is more cursed than hell itself, and I"m getting the hell outta here, so call off your dragon heads, capiche?" Don Gustavo spoke, throwing his cigar down on the ground as he began to walk back to his white SUV, followed by his guards. "But I'm coming back. Give me a reason to stay the hell away, heh." He shouted as he left.

Sans' eye rested for a while, sweat rolling down his skull as only one gaster blaster remained by his side, his trembling hand hiding inside the pocket of his jacket.

Just as Don Gustavo was to reach his SUV, gun firing in the distance echoed, along with large blazes of flames.

Sans exhaled, shutting his eyes. "Damn."

*********°*********•*********°*********

Dr. Aster turned to Chara. "Right! Ah… Florencia, you must tell Sans that Grillby and Gerson are out there. They must have made contact with the armed men I found."

Nurtured between his hand and his breast, Florencia's light bubbled flickered. "Oh no… I must… I…" Florencia's soft voice answered. "...Sans! Grillby and Gerson are in trouble!"

Aster immediately clung to the fading ball of light. "You stupid angel, stay with us! You can't possibly leave me with a murderous child, that's irresponsible! Besides, you're the reason she's here, I'm only dealing with Chara because of you, so you can't leave, I demand it!"

Sans immediately grabbed his cell phone and looked at the message. "H-hey, Don! You leaving a little present for us up there?! Call them off, or else!" Sans threatened, noticing that Don Gustavo seemed quite serious. "...very well."

Sans could feel the intense air all around them, and it was taking every ounce of determination not to just run off after Grillby. No, he needed to command the situation in his favor, and manipulating the Don into submission was key to everyone's survival.

With the phone on speaker, Don Gustavo could hear rapid gun fire in the background, along with cries of agony. "Don! Monsters! A man in flames and a mutant turtle in real life! They're kicking our asses, we need—"

Sans watched as Don Gustavo walked towards them with his phone in his hand. "More monsters it seems, and they're taking my best infiltration team down." Don Gustavo said to himself very softly, almost as though he were trying to calm whatever fears he hid. Screams of agony filled the background of the call. "...I need backup! I lost my team— three of them burned to death and two of them were hammered to death by a turtle. I won't— Oh god… WAIT! I GIVE!"

Sans listened as it sounded as though a metallic object fell to the ground. " _ **WHERE**_ ARE THE OTHERS?! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY FRIENDS?!" Grillby's angry voice echoed through the phone. "Let me kill 'em, Grillby. Unless you want to fry him too," chuckled Gerson's voice.

Sans immediately spoke up. "Grillby, it's me! Sans! Stop! We're fine, we're making a truce right now… c-come down the path until you see a giant house. We'll be here… just… don't kill the guy. In fact, bring him here. His boss is here."

Don Gustavo looked at Sans. "You're sparing my best operative?" he asked with curiosity in his voice, to which Sans responded, "Call it a favor, for a favor. He's seen what we're capable of... as have you. Leave the monster nation alone and away from whatever shady things you do. Give us a chance to prosper as a nation. Pretty much what I asked of you in the first place, except I'm _giving_ you a gesture of good will."

On the line, the operative seemed to have sighed in relief. "W-we're heading down the path now. Boss, wait for me please. I want to go home."

With a laugh, Don Gustavo looked to Pablo. "Don't we all."

*********°*********•*********°*********

As they all waited awkwardly, Chara and Aster were huddled together as they both tried to create heat for the tiny bubble of light. "Gaster, she's fading real quick. I think she used up almost all of her strength on Sans, and then after having to send a message…" Chara figured, noticing that Gaster seemed very disturbed by all this. He was taking it much harder than she ever would have imagined.

Finally, Florencia spoke back. "...I'll be fine… I just… need rest. Thank you for caring so much, Senor Gaster… Chara."

With flushed cheeks, the good doctor held the bubble against himself lovingly. "Oh hush, you insufferable woman. You're almost as bad as Ariel. Making me worry like that… You might be worse than her, I daresay."

Chara sat on the ground, hugging her legs as she began to rock herself lightly. "Florencia, you were alive and lived in the nearby town… what do you know about the legends?"

Aster scowled, but the bubble lit itself as it spoke. "There were many legends of Burgen… but the biggest were about the monsters, the cursed mountain, and of the asian ruins, as a matter of fact… it's probably because they're all connected somehow. When I first came to this country, it wasn't because I wanted to. The sailor who took me here did so because he lived here. Living here is very cheap, although it is not what everyone would prefer. It's underdeveloped, not because governments haven't tried to set roots here, but rather because the land doesn't allow for it. Everytime a big government takes over, it falls just as soon. Plagues start to develop, earthquakes shake their buildings, and eventually if the government is resilient enough, the mountain erupts, shooting giant debris all around until the government disperses."

Dr. Aster contemplated the thought. "That's odd… the underground has never felt or has seen mountain activity. We've always been stable, then again, I used Chara's SOUL to keep it stable… could that perhaps be some sort of barrier against natural disaster…?"

Chara stopped and rested her head on her legs, contemplating her words before speaking. "My village was large, technically we were a precinct, but the particular area where I lived happens to be the ruins we saw in the distance. Tara and I called it a village because in the end, the other parts of the precinct were further away, and several families lived there, and it was almost like a close knit community of people… except they all hated me and Tara. What… What Lara said earlier… about the ruins being cursed, and the plague that hit after Tara and I died…"

Dr. Aster's eyes lit up. "You're connected. Or perhaps… this Tara person is. You know what connects it all."

Chara nodded, taking a deep breath. "The ruins, those stupid walls… I recognize them, even in rubble. They were our home. The Takashki Clan owned quite a large piece of land, so the pieces that still stand are probably the walls that surrounded the home. If you noticed the walls, then behind them you saw a run down mansion and quite a lot of rectangle shacks. We lived in the one closest to the corner of the wall. It was there that Tara died, and I barely escaped. I know for sure you saw what remained of the main home, still somehow managing to stay standing. I don't know what the plague might have been, but if it had anything to do with Tara… and I know it had to, then most likely the people of our village and our precinct, and the other precincts if it spread, died a most painful, and slow death, to effects that mimic poison. Tara was obsessed with finding the perfect poison blend that would paralyze someone while slowly poisoning them to death. Tara… was more twisted than I was, and her hatred was probably stronger than mine. That's… That's what I think at least."

Dr. Aster looked around the surrounding area, noticing that this mansion's surroundings were more calmer and serene. Birds would perch the trees, whereas the trees near the ruins were empty and devoid of any life forms. The natural wildlife avoided the area… so perhaps a curse was perhaps in effect. "Well, the ruins surrounding the standing home indicate that people did try to destroy it, but any efforts to destroy the home or shacks were nonexistent. Couple that with a woman who feeds off of humans and the legend of monsters inside a mountain that seems to magically know when humans are settling. Yes, I think humans fear this land enough for the monsters to try to re-settle themselves. Perhaps this fear of the unnatural will keep humans away… minus the few who have made roots here. The humans at the port, and in this town… are they the only ones, Florencia?"

The silence that followed startled Aster who immediately looked down and noticed the ball of light gently humming, its light going in and out. Perhaps this conversation is best left for another time.

*********°*********•*********°*********

Finally, Sans could see Grillby and Gerson in the distance with their prisoner in tow. He glanced towards the Don in white, noticing that he was trying to hide his shock. Don Pablo on the other hand still had a haunted appearance.

The prisoner walked in pain, his hand grasping his left side underneath his breast, his breath laborious. His black anti-bullet vest looked roughed up, and where he held his hand it was apparent that a chunk of of the vest was ripped off. His black cargo pants also seemed as though they had seen better days. Tears and chunks of earth were on it, and he seemed to be walking in a bit of a limp.

"D-Don Gustavo!" He shouted, his pace quickening but coming to an abrupt stop when his boss pulled out a gun at him. "I don't hire failures."

"STOP!" a familiar cry sounded off behind them, coming from the little girl who had been silently watching this whole ordeal. "You don't have to hurt him… he's hurt enough as it is." Frisk added, slowly walking towards Sans and the two Dons, her lips quivering the closer she came. "Maldito! Te di todo, cabron!" (Damn you! I gave you everything, dumbass!) shouted the crossed agent who seethed in anger, but it was shortly lived. He turned pale when his eyes met hers.

"Please, no one else… ...has to… get hurt…" Her worlds trailed off as she stared at the man in the distance, his eyes wide as he stared back at her. Don Gustavo smirked, his gun making a clicking noise as he readied the bullet. "Don't be silly, I'd be doing you a favor, little girl. He's the one—"

"It's you." She whispered, both of her hands flying up to her mouth as she took several steps back. His voice rang inside her head as it pounder harder and harder. _"Para de correr Florencia Gomez!" shouted the memory of the man's voice, followed by gunshots in the darkness._

Don Pablo noticed the fear inside the girl's eyes, and immediately he knew what was going on. His eyes flickered with flames of vengeance, his hand reaching for his glock, and quickly turning the safety off, his hands swift as his bloodshot eyes focused on the forehead on the injured man.

Sans' blue eye flickered, but what was he to do? Two guys had their guns aimed at the same guy, all the bodyguards standing by were just as confused as he was, and Grillby and Gerson were near this injured target— What should he do?

In a split second, Grillby and Gerson's torso had turned blue, and they flopped down unto the ground just as Sans had motioned his hand, whereas on the opposite side, Frisk had body slammed her father, her hands wrestling with his over control of the gun while Don Gustavo stood with a smirk on his face and his gun facing the two targets he had been itching to kill.

On the ground, Don Pablo easily pushed his daughter away as a bullet flew in between them. On cue, bullets began to fly across the field. Opposite of him, Frisk trembled as she held the gun, going from Don Gustavo to her Father. "D-don't move! I don't want to hurt anyone…" she spoke, her hands firm but her body quaking with fear. On the corner of her mouth, blood slowly trickled down, and a red mark slowly developed from her struggle with her dad.

"If Frisk is hurt, Toriel will kill me!" King Asgore roared from atop the barn, his trident in his hands and royal armor shining brightly. His head hung low, and his left eye glowed a bright red as his left arm flew out, along with large fireballs in direction of the mobsters near the white SUVs. On the ground level, an armoured Undyne joined the fray with her grin as she summoned as many spears as she could, also sending a barrage of them flying towards the direction of the mobsters. Quick on her feet, Undyne jumped all about the open area, sweat building up from the Sun's rays as well as the focus she needed to avoid so many flying bullets. Luckily, once they had appeared, the other mobsters on the opposite side that sided with Don Pablo seemed to have relaxed and were focused on shooting the mobsters that were far away from the monsters.

Sans' eye flickered as he pushed Don Gustavo as far away as he could, in the direction of the SUVs. With him away from Frisk, he turned to Don Pablo, his hand flying down hard, watching as he floated up and slammed down on the ground. "Don't you _**EVER**_ hurt her!" Sans roared, but soon calmed down when he saw Frisk stare at him while shaking her head. "Stop! You're hurting him, dunkle Sans!" Her hands had let go of the gun she had held, and they briefly wiped the small droplets of blood from the corner of her mouth where during her brief struggle with her dad, the gun had hit her mouth.

Running across the field, the giant tortoise dragged the giant hammer and he summoned a giant shield with which he deflected several flying bullets. Undyne quickly hid behind a tree to catch her breath, ducking as she looked to her left. "Paps! T-there's too many bullets… go hide!"

Jumping back into the fray, she summoned more spears that rained down on unsuspecting humans, while King Asgore's fireballs sent them into a panic. Soon, a huge explosion sounded off, where one fireball had landed unto an SUV. Undyne had almost been knocked down by the explosion if it hadn't been for Papyrus who had summoned his shield to protect her. Gerson's hammer swiped the air, knocking back humans as well as bullets, all of them converging to the same area.

Grillby came walking to the field, watching as the humans all tried their hardest to shoot Undyne, Asgore or Gerson but either their bullets missed or recoiled off their armor. Noticing that they were all coming together on on whatever machinery they had come from, he raised his arms in the air, flames combusting and crackling with the air as he made a wall of fire that seperated them. Shouts of shock erupted, followed by the sound of silence as they all backed away in horror. At last, having seen the extent of their powers, the humans had stopped their senseless violence, and instead seemed to be trying to get away. Pleased with himself, Grillby turned to Undyne who grinned from ear to ear, clapping as Gerson came too. "WOAH! That's a COLOSSAL fire wall, Grillby! I am NOT getting on your bad side." Undyne smired, swatting away a bullet that been stopped by her armor. "...thanks, by the way. I wasn't expecting so many bullets at once. I guess we were lucky."

Gerson watched as the humans on the other side of the wall all scurried to their white vehicles. "No, not lucky, exactly. I can see it on the humans… they're powerless. The power their ancestors wielded has disappeared… they're harmless without their machines. But if a bullet takes you by surprise, while you have your guard down… it can be fatal, so do not let your guard down."

The white suited human limped into an SUV, and eventually, the remaining humans followed him, disappearing into the distance where the road lead to the ruins.

*********°*********•*********°*********

Silence.

The next half hour was composed of silence and the sounds of the wind, everyone in the area trying to compose their thoughts, their beliefs, their actions, to fit it inside the running hourglass.

Grillby stared at the prisoner on the ground who had his hands tied behind his back, his head rising as he looked to Sans who had silently slumped down. "...hey prisoner… your prison is ready."

A cage made out of bones was placed near the entrance to the mansion, and there King Asgore and Undyne were speaking to Jose who seemed to be coordinating the monster's efforts with the loyal mobsters who were undoubtedly very much confused and scared of them, but were obeying them nonetheless.

On a stone bench sat Frisk who seemed to have been in a catatonic state since wrestling with her father. And of course, the father was sitting on the bench opposite of hers, his steel flask emptied out by Sans earlier, yet his hand clung to it for dear life.

Papyrus was of course inside the mansion, keeping Isidoro company along with the rest of the wounded and the local doctor who had been brought against his will.

Grillby walked along with Sans, both of them following the limping prisoner, watching him enter his bone cage. "...Sans… a-about what happened earlier…" Grillby softly spoke, but Sans shook his head. "Too soon, Grillbz… but you're not here with ol' man Gerson because you're bored. What happened? Did he—?!" Sans asked, staring at the prisoner with spite and anger, but Grillby shook his head. "No… goodness no. Luckily, Gerson and I spotted him near the entrance, and we overheard him. They've killed other humans, and we heard they killed Frisk's mom, along with others recently. They joked about it… talked about killing whoever was with Frisk, and that they were nearby, that they had found their camp… I… I snapped. I thought they had hurt you guys, and I immediately asked for answers, and we were met with bullets. I did only what I thought was right at the moment, and… I killed several of them. Should I be locked up too?"

The prisoner turned around, watching as Sans locked the cage. He spoke as he sat down, his hand taking off his vest. "No… you did what anyone with the right mind would've done. My teammates were ruthless, and I was too, with that woman. She deserves her powerful friends… and we, deserved to die."

Sans looked over to Grillby, noticing that he still looked quite shaken. His angry fits were always something to be feared, but… Grillby snapping? The cool and collected barkeep?

"Perhaps I still know." Grillby spoke with a soft tone, looking at the palms of his hands. "Perhaps I still know the things I used to do when I lived differently. The time before I met you, Sans. The time, where Steamy and I were partners, living and breathing in this land. Maybe it was a reflex, a built in fear of death that triggered it…"

Sans looked over his shoulder, watching as King Asgore and Undyne came to them. "Grillby… what has happened to the underground? Gerson says it may be in trouble?" asked King Asgore, his gentle baritone voice calming the nerves of Sans and Grillby just slightly.

"Right. The underground." Grillby exhaled. "There's an anomaly that has appeared throughout the underground. The stats were surging into the red zone… I thought that perhaps it was… Chara."

King Asgore silently nodded, although Sans knew that he was probably confused. He did not know what Chara had done to the underground. "Very well… What does an anomaly mean, Sans?"

Undyne tapped her foot on the ground, her arms crossed and her eyebrows furrowed. "an anomaly means that there is an error in the code. Long story short, well… our world can be described as a formula of sorts... in numbers. When an anomaly appears, the stability in our world begins to decay and the world around us begins to change. When a strong enough anomaly arises, it can destroy the ground, the sky, buildings, water, which in turn can cause great disasters. Earthquakes and rising lava is an immediate threat." Sans replied, his voice changing the more serious he got.

The young human who had walked in and listened to the explanation gasped. "That sounds serious… you guys kept our flower in that deathtrap of a mountain?!" he exclaimed, but quickly he laughed nervously. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding. We are eternally grateful… the old man and I. And the boss too, once he gets over the death of his wife. He didn't used to be like this, until recently… not that, uh, I'm excusing him, or anything. Anyways, I talked to the guys, and you uh… your 'people' are welcome to stay at the mansion. We will patrol the area to make sure they don't come back. Please… come inside the mansion. Maybe that way, she'll come back to us." His gaze moved to Frisk who was still in a catatonic state, her eyes staring ahead blankly.

Without a hesitation, Sans began to make his way to Frisk, his hand gently taking hers when he had sat down next to her. "frisk... hey kiddo. it's dunkle sans. ...n-need a hug? i'm not warm or comforting, but—"

The fluttering of her swollen eyes interrupted him, her head slowly tilting his way. "...d-dunkle sans…?" she whispered, her other hand landing on top of his. "...we were a happy family. I ran up to him two nights before, in the pouring rain."

Across from them, the empty flask flinched. The head that hung down lifted itself a bit as it listened.

"I never heard them fight until that day. My mommy was crying, yelling at my dad to leave us, and I hugged his leg and asked him not to leave. She held me back, and he left, without even saying goodbye."

Frisk paused, her eyes slowly turning to Sans. "I snuck out from the window and ran after him in the rain. I wanted to go home. I was tired of everything, and I wanted to go back. He… he didn't even look at me. He said to keep my mom safe, and left."

Sans watched as the girl looked down.

Across from them, his low and stern voice spoke. "Fernando is still alive, you know, or, what's left of him. Florencia didn't want that for you. She made me promise I'd keep myself away from you, and that if I ended everything, then we could…"

The sound of steel hitting the brick walkway echoed as the beaten Don got up. "Tch. Who am I kidding… I hate you. My pride and soul, taken down in his prime all because of you…" He walked to the mansion's door but stopped, his hand on his head. After a minute, his hand went into the pocket of his pants, taking out a picture that had been folded up. Without looking back, he simply threw it over his shoulder. "Take it back. That old family doesn't exist anymore."

Once the Don had gone inside, Frisk had grasped Sans tightly, her arms going around him and letting herself be covered by his jacket so that it might muffle her outburst of sobs. Silently, she was joined by King Asgore who had knelt down and engulfed Sans and Frisk in a group hug.

Standing nearby, Undyne looked away with silent anger and Gerson used his hammer as a cane to lean on. "...This is going to be a long journey, isn't it?" asked Grillby softly. Gerson nodded. "At least we've secured one alliance, though not the best one. I just hope the black one won't be a burden."

Undyne glared at the window where Don Pablo stood with a bottle in his hand, crumpling down unto the floor and out of sight. "He won't be for long if he keeps that up." Undyne snapped, her blue knuckles paling the harder her first got.

*********°*********•*********°*********

On the other side of the ghostly veil Lara watched, energy flowing from the child and the parent. Delicious misery... It was a delightful snack after such a big feast today. Several deaths in a single day so soon after the town massacre? Her form felt so overpowered and bursting with energy. Perhaps it was time to start terrorizing the lands again, or to store it for a better occasion.

In the dark void, Chara kept vigil of the black mist, her heart pounding with a mixture of feelings. Anger, sadness… Frisk must be worse. Sadly, Florencia was still recovering so there was no means of communicating to her. She couldn't even warm up the locket she wore around her neck… she always seemed to enjoy its warmth.

"Chara," spoke Dr. Aster, standing tall with a bubble of light on his breast pocket. "The anomaly they poke of… it wasn't you, and it _wasn't_ me."

A small silence enveloped the two who stared at each other. "...I thought… w-well you had begun to materialize in the black room, I thought that was you, Gaster!" Chara refuted, panicking when she realized what it could be.

"What is it? You played with the coding apparently… what did you do?" Dr. Aster asked sternly.

"I didn't… I mean… okay, it could be one of a few options. Best case scenario, is that perhaps it's just the magical fluctuation that normally happens in the underground. With all that magic stored inside the mountain, it sometimes hiccups when there is a general disturbance which could be either me, or Asriel, or… the kid, or Sans. The second option could be another dimension colliding with ours, which could be either good or bad. The last option, which is the worst case scenario… is that… perhaps… Vinnie has penetrated our world."

"What?"

Chara stared at Gaster who stared blankly at her.

"She could hack into our world and take over somehow. I don't know. I didn't really understand much of it, but I know she this weird connection to everything, okay?" Chara added, looking away with a worrisome expression.

Dr. Aster let out a frustrated sigh. "Time will only tell. For now, let's focus on keeping the living _alive_."


	5. The Funeral

PvW Barks:

I can't tell if the last chapter was long. It was sixteen pages worth of writing in a word document using Arial font size 11. Honestly, I thought I wrote waaaay more in My Name Is. If anyone is reading this, gimmie your thoughts on that. Then again, I was on a pretty long hiatus since I stopped updating My Name Is. Been thinking about re-writing the DETERMINATION and *LOVE ending… but just thinking about how much I had written and lost, I sorta die a little. Thanks to the peps that are still into this fanfic, and if no one is reading, then… idk. Hello darkness my old friend ._.

Probably somewhere in the future a random person will stumble unto it and read it like I do, when creeping on Jimmy Neutron fanfics xD Probably saying how old and dead the meme I reference is lmao

Welp, back to the fic. Also. Sorry for the long wait. Summer parties, vacations, etc. ;-; Plus my two jobs are getting busy af smh

P.S: The above was written last year. Yep. A YEAR AGO. This chapter was sitting unfinished. I got really busy, and then… BAM. I got injured. And here I am, finishing it. I'll probably start this project again. Didn't stop because I wanted to, really… after marriage, bills pile up and stuff. I might start updating this again because I literally have nothing else to do. Huzzah.

*********°*********•*********°*********

Chapter Four: The Funeral

*********°*********•*********°*********

The morning that came was beautiful. Early at dawn, King Asgore and Undyne had both climbed the barn's ladders into its second floor where a large window was open. There, they found Sans, Frisk and Papyrus, all cuddling underneath a blanket where they had stayed the night despite protests by Jose and a Dr. Goodman.

"He's a good guardian." King Asgore mused, sitting down carefully as though not to awaken them. Undyne stood, her eyes watching as the twilight of the night slowly brightened into the new day, the giant ball of gas slowly ascending. "He's finally good at _SOMETHING_." Undyne joked, noticing that Frisk had begun to move. The sun was awakening them, it seemed. "Sir… why did the name Chara bother you?" asked Undyne, noticing that once more, King Asgore had flinched and looked away.

"The flowers are beautiful in the horizon, are they not?" he asked, looking ahead where near the ruins, large fields of yellow flowers bloomed and danced as though inviting them.

"...oh, yeah… actually aren't they the same ones from the underground?" She asked, noticing that King Asgore looked more and more serious. "...yes. Yes they are."

A moment of silence followed that was interrupted by Frisk who had sat up. "King Asgore…? Good morning." She smiled, crawling towards him and sitting beside him, her head resting unto his arm. "...Sans said he was leaving today. Are you… leaving too?" she asked.

The gentle hum of his baritone voice soothed the air, his mouth forming into a smile as he shook his head. "And miss my chance to spend time with you? Never. I have a second chance… I don't intend to waste it. We will work together Frisk, and I will protect you as fiercely as Sans did. Now then… shall we go make ourselves some morning tea? Toriel did pack a few teabags for us… we can ask Sans to fetch more on his way back." He gently chuckled as he stood up, watching as the girl smiled from ear to ear with a nod.

As they left the barn, Frisk looked back and watched as Undyne sat down. Instead of asking her to come with them, Frisk turned and took a deep breath, her hand instinctively reaching out for Asgore's. "Let's go, Mr. Fluffybuns."

*********°*********•*********°*********

Inside the mansion, Asgore squatted down everytime he needed to pass a doorway, chuckling as he maneuvered his way around. In the kitchen, they found a man who slumped over a mug of coffee with his glasses on the table and his hands over his face.

Grillby casually watched over the gas stove, carefully watching over the boiling water. "Frisk, King Asgore… Dr. Goodman wished to speak to you." Grillby's soft spoken voice echoed in the large kitchen.

Frisk let go of King Asgore's hand and sat across the seat, tilting her head when she watched the tired man look up with bewilderment. "It's you…! B-but… it's impossible! You've grown tremendously." He said, his hand reaching out for her, but she leaned back with confused eyes. "...do I know you?" asked Frisk, noticing that King Asgore had joined Grillby in an attempt to leave them alone.

"You speak with an almost perfect english… you struggled so much just a few days ago."

Again, Frisk tilted her head, inspecting the man but no memories came.

"I'm Dr. Goodman. You used to come to me with your mother for your daily exercises… It seems your memory retainment hasn't improved as much as I hoped. Do you remember that?"

Frisk gulped, and shook her head, her brown eyes looking to Grillby and Asgore for help. "I-I don't… understand. Were we close…?"

The doctor's chair creaked as he leaned back and crossed his arms, watching as King Asgore set down a cup of tea in front of Frisk.

"You might say we were. You arrived to Burgen paralyzed from top to bottom, barely able to move a few fingers and toes. You had received several head injuries, and coupled with a large inhale of carbon monoxide, you were in a pretty bad shape, luckily the carbon monoxide wasn't much of the issue, no, those head injuries of yours were. You suffered quite a lot of brain damage I'm afraid, and it mostly affected your ability to move, to remember… to compute. Do you… remember now?"

Frisk had taken a sip of her tea and sat pondering, her eyes looking into the pale yellow drink. "...that's why they were mean to me." she whispered, her hands clutching the cup for warmth. "I… wasn't like all the other kids anymore. We… we sat like this, and you'd make me repeat what I had done the day before. You'd ask me simple questions and I struggled… we'd do exercises so that my legs and arms could be more flexible. I'm starting to remember… you gave me a lollipop everytime, right?"

Dr. Goodman nodded his head, his baggy eyes closing for a moment. "Yet you forgot about me so easily… then again, _**if**_ the story they gave me is true, then… it's been more than a year now, yes?"

Frisk perked up, her brown eyes staring into his as she nodded. "You believe us?"

The tired man gave a sigh, his fingers massaging his temples. "I saw a dead woman floating and radiating, and I know for a fact her corpse is in a coffin ready for her wake. There's a talking goat, a man of fire, two skeletons and a walking mermaid… let's not forget the turtle that immediately requested that I look at his aching knees. I believe this is real enough and not a hallucination. Did you comprehend all that, Florence?"

The little girl stared at him with an expression of slight confusion and fear. King Asgore's hand grasped her shoulder as he walked over and behind her, his cold gaze looking down upon the tired doctor who took the hint. "Ah… I apologize, Florence. I didn't mean to sound…" He began to say, closing his eyes as the massaging of his temples intensified. "It's been long days without sleep, and injured people begging me for help. I shouldn't have said what I said like that. I'm so sorry… I just… I don't know how to cope with it. I'm so tired, but everywhere I go, there's more dead than living, and now… I don't know if anything is real."

Grillby walked over with a coffee jug, refreshing his empty mug. "It's all real. Last night… I saw you tending to the wounded. I understand that you're tired… perhaps… Queen Toriel can tend to the wounded, King Asgore?"

The goat king's gentle hand on her shoulder slightly gripped it for a second before letting go. "I… cannot say. I wish to make sure it is safe for her first… with what, humans running around with machines that shoot loads of bullets."

Frisk looked up, noticing the worry in King Asgore's eyes, and the way his frown tried its hardest to smile but it only furthered the pain in his eyes. She looked down, her thumbs wrestling each other as she held the cup of tea, mustering her courage all for her next question.

"Mr. Goodman... My mom… she… _**a**_ wake? What is that?"

Walking into the kitchen, Jose stared at Asgore while he made his way beside Frisk. "You know? Funeral? Today we're going to bury her, god bless her soul… oh. Oh. R-right. W-well…"

Asgore furrowed his eyebrows, staring intently at Jose as he spoke, his stern face giving Jose a slight jump, making him realize he was probably speaking too bluntly. "W-well… You're here. She would have wanted you to send her off… but… I have to ask. How does the skeleton keep your mother in his cell phone?"

Grillby could notice the confusion in her eyes, and Dr. Goodman seemed too tired. The poor man hadn't gotten a wink of sleep. "Dr. Goodman, please, go rest. I will explain the situation to her… please rest so that you may tend to the wounded back in the town."

King Asgore watched as the sleepless man trudged through the corridors, disappearing around the corner. Being unable to sit in the chair, he simply sat down the floor, cupping his sweet tea, the aroma bringing him warmth and comfort in a room so cold and empty.

Jose watched as the fireman simply sat down without setting anything on fire, his mouth agape in awe.

"Frisk… Dr. Goodman and I had a chat last night. Your mother… she died from several gunshots, and it was fairly quick. They found her on the opposite side of the entrance, and they tracked several clues you left behind, but then your trail vanished. Sans… he… he told me a few things. Your mother, she loves you. She loves you so much, Frisk. She's devoted to keeping you safe and sound, for as long as her form will let her. The image you saw yesterday… that was her. Her ghostly form is dying, and she will not last long. The odd thing about her human body, is that Dr. Goodman said it was still oddly fresh, and smells of flowers. I, myself, do not understand this phenomenon, but, I do not think we will find out soon enough. Your mother communicates through Sans' cell phone using text messages as though to preserve her power, because her presence in our world is difficult, and eats away at her energy. Sans has told me that so long as she preserves her energy, she will be around. Last night… the other lady that had appeared, it was harming the wounded human, and your mother protected him, as well as us from it. Sans' Gaster Blaster gives off a high energy beam that she can absorb, which is why he did that, and she… she used up a lot of energy in order to save us. She has gone quiet, and Sans and I hope she is only recovering from it. Please… be happy that your mother is still caring for you. Don't cry, sweet pea."

Opposite of Grillby, Frisk nodded as she wiped away the silent tears that had flooded down her cheeks. Was her mother proud of her? Has she been looking over her all this time? Why hadn't she appeared before her? More importantly… she was dying…? Again…?

Jose finally took a seat beside Frisk, his hand snatching hers up as soon she had put it down. His warm hand enveloped hers with slight comfort, but as she looked up to him, she realized that he was looking away as though to hide his tears as well. "Your mom…" Jose began to say, his voice cracking and coming to a pause as he gulped. "She was the best woman I had ever met. I-in fact, if it wasn't for her, I'd probably wouldn't be around, heh. She saved me. Back when I was younger, I was begging in the streets, minding my own business when a car sped through and hit me. I remember seeing the black SUV pull up, and her running over to me. Isidoro was just looking at me from the driver's seat, and everyone that had seen what had happened either walked away or simply watched. She asked the people to help her, to call an ambulance, but no one did. I was just the neighborhood runt that begged for a living, I had no family, no connections… so she picked me up and took me in. Looked after me, visited me in the hospital, brought me home made food, took me into her home… she pretty much adopted me until I finally decided I'd be her personal bodyguard, like Isidoro. To Don Pablo, he wanted me to carry my own weight, but everytime he was hard on me, she'd step in and belittle him… HIM! I don't know how she could tame him, but that was her. He adored her. And now…"

Frisk could feel his hand grip her tightly as he clenched his jaw, continuing to look away as his voice had hitched. His other hand lowered the shades that had rested on his head, tears rolling down the dark glasses and his red nose softly breathing as though not to sniffle. "...and now she's gone from his world… our world. She's an angel, a real life angel. She's probably a saint in god's world, but she doesn't want to leave us. I don't blame her… you're probably the only good thing she has left in this world. We're… not worthy. So please… let me take care of you. After today, I'll take care of you and old man Isidoro. We can live here, with them."

Grillby noticed the way his shaky voice seemed to get firmer, and his shaky smile grow as he turned to her. King Asgore looked a bit surprised, finding it nice to have been included, although, something in the way he spoke bothered him. He was scared. Was he scared of this Don Pablo? Of the other mobsters? Of taking care of them?

Breaking the silence, Grillby got up and got another mug for Jose. "Do you like milk and sugar in your coffee?" he asked, looking back and noticing that Frisk had caved herself into Jose's arms. "...you look like milk and sugar type. Should I make morning toast? Hm… I wonder where the bread is."

In silence, the people in the kitchen enjoyed their drinks as the silent tears subsided. When all the mugs and cups were empty of their drink, an hour had passed. Clear eyes and smiles were in everyone's faces, and the silence was finally shattered by Frisk. "I… can't wait. I want to live with everyone here… happy. _**Everyone**_ …"

Her happy eyes were clouded for a moment as she looked down into her empty cup where the golden flower tea had been. She smiled, her warm eyes turning to King Asgore who seemed a bit surprised. "So I'll make it happen."

*********°*********•*********°*********

Hours had passed, and everyone in the mansion seemed to be bustling. Dr. Goodman's snores could echo throughout the entire mansion, and so, Jose felt terrible when he had to wake him up. It was time.

In the barn, Undyne and Sans seemed to have been in a heated argument, but it ended immediately when Frisk and Papyrus appeared.

"hey kiddo, hey paps. what's uh… _**boning**_ on?" Sans asked with a wink, laughing when Papyrus shook his head and stomped his foot. "SANS! NOW IS **NOT** THE TIME FOR PUNS! WE HAVE A FUNERAL TO GO TO."

Undyne's eyes widened, and she could only shake her head. "No way. I'm NOT going. I… don't do well with funerals. I'll stay and guard this place with the guards."

Sans gazed to his side where in the horizon he could see the ruins. "wait what? where's the fun in a FUNeral if you're not there?" Chuckling, Sans turned to everyone and realized his dark humor wasn't very much appropriate. Undyne rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "Go then, I won't go. And just because you're going to the underground after this, doesn't mean you're off the hook, Skeleton. I will find out what you're hiding, and if you're dangerous…" Undyne spoke, her voice getting more and more hostile, but she stopped, turning to Frisk and Papyrus. "Keep Frisk safe for me, Papyrus. That's an order, Royal Guard!"

Not even a second had passed, and already Papyrus was in an uproar. "I'M A ROYAL GUARD?! WOWWIEEEE! I MUST TELL EVERYONE! SANS! TELL EVERYONE FOR ME, I MUST DO MY ROYAL GUARD DUTY! FRISK! I MUST CARRY YOU AND MAKE SURE NOT EVEN A HAIR GETS HURT. WE'RE OFF! MY FIRST MISSION!"

Just like that, Frisk and Papyrus had disappeared the way they had come in, leaving behind Undyne and Sans. Quickly, the mood changed and Undyne's narrowed eyes seethed with anger. "I will DESTROY you if something goes wrong. You better get this 'Chara' situation under control or I won't rest until all this science mumbo jumbo is put to rest. King Asgore doesn't need to be reminded of his mistakes— got it?"

The short skeleton simply walked away, throwing his hand into the air as he waved goodbye, his usual slouch gone and his grin gone. "Everyone makes mistakes— some more than others. No reason to forget them, 'least we repeat them. Don't lose your only eye now, Undyne."

Alone in the barn, Undyne could only cross her arms as she fumed in anger. The secrets that had spilled out of that skeleton were tremendously dangerous, and if it was all true, then they were all in more danger than they could have imagined. This angel person who watched over Frisk… if it hadn't been for her, then the old man from yesterday would've kicked the bucket. If it wasn't for this Chara person, than the royal heir wouldn't have died. If it wasn't for this Chara demon, a lot of them wouldn't have suffered in different timelines, if even that was real.

Could it all be real?

King Asgore knew a Chara. Her name was… of conflicting emotions. Sans… as lazy as he was, there was no denying how smart he could be when he applied himself. And the Sans she had talked to for the past couple hours was… scary to say the least. The way he talked. The unnerving calm demeanor he had when he spoke of death and wild experiments. It was like he was a totally different Sans. Not even her threats seemed to stir any fear or uneasiness, then again… with the power she had seen yesterday, perhaps he had nothing to fear.

And yet, as disturbing as Sans seemed, Undyne could see right through him. He was beyond scared for Frisk. He truly did care a lot for that little human, so then… perhaps that's why he's stronger than all of them. If anyone is close to that human, Sans and Papyrus are it.

Walking to the barn door, she opened it and saw Frisk come to a stop in front of one of these black vehicles. She hesitated and looked to her side where Jose and Sans stood. Trailing behind them was that despicable human, the Don Pablo person that she had come to hate.

Hate.

Hate was such a strong word.

Feeling her blood boil, Undyne's arms rested on her sides and her hands were balled into fists until the blue color in her knuckles began to pale. Something inside of her stirred wildly, almost like a voice. Kill him. Kill him, it said.

No. What was this, this feeling? This voice? A blue spear appeared floating beside her, but she fought the urge as best as she could. Why did she hate this man? What wasn't there to hate? She didn't know him personally, and yet his actions and stories spoke louder. Frisk was terrified of him. Last night, she dared not enter the home, in fear of disturbing what little peace there was inside the home. She slept in the cold barn, in the itchy hay without so much as a word until finally Sans had come out here with a blanket and Papyrus with food. Asgore could only watch and wonder, he could only think and process what was happening without him there. An experienced father who could not act the role and instead seemed to have broken down.

All of that because of this pile of worthless excuse of a human.

A red flash gleamed in Undyne's eyes, and the voice seemed to get louder. Her boiling veins burned her flesh and her skin seemed to be turning into a green— then one look at Sans taking Frisk into his body arms and stepping aside so that the other humans could board the vehicle made it all stop.

She could see tiny sparkles rolling down her face, and King Asgore had also stepped aside. "I'm not ready." she seemed to have said. "She's still around, she's not gone." was perhaps what followed, if Undyne could read her lips correctly.

Just like that, the Don Pablo entourage of humans boarded the vehicle while another one came up, this one with an open bed for them to board in the back… probably because of how tall King Asgore was.

"I want to understand him. He's my papa." she seemed to have mouthed.

All hate was now diminished, and the sensation of burning flesh was gone. Replaced were those ill feelings with feelings of compassion for a little girl who wanted only the love of a parent who seemed to want nothing to do with her.

Turning around, Undyne went back into the barn and scratched the back of neck were something that humans called a rash had begun to develop. It was odd. Monsters _never_ got sick.

*********°*********•*********°*********

The town of San Marcus was small and quaint, and despite the horrendous massacre that had occurred, it seemed… somewhat normal at first. Rolling into it, it seemed like any other day. Children were playing in the outskirts with a ball that they kicked, however, in the distance Frisk could see men in black suits with what looked like guns. The closer they got the town, more… weird the smell got. At first, it looked like the bakery was making a lot of fire, or perhaps the blacksmith was making more things, but the closer they got, the more putrid the air began to get. Women walked the streets, looking at them with teary pleading eyes. Everyone seemed to be wearing black, now that Frisk noticed.

Then everything changed. People with blood on their clothes, stains and injuries laid about on the streets, all of them sweaty and tired, some with bandages and others… others were covered in white sheets. White sheets everywhere. White sheets covering wagons.

Then everything came to a stop, and Frisk looked wildly about. This was it.

Without thinking about it, she jumped out from the stopped SUV, her eyes staring at everything around her. She stared at the shattered pieces of pottery all over the town square, at all the bullet ridden walls… and there, where she had once stood. She stared at a fixed spot, her eyes reliving the moment that she had looked up to her mother with a smile as she pulled on her clothes to get her attention. Her head turned to another spot where she could remember kids pushing her into a mud puddle during the Day of the Dead celebration. She turned her head again and she could almost hear the music playing…

"Frisk." King Asgore's voice spoke as he knelt down and grabbed her hand. The girl's pale white face seemed to be breathing hard and fast as she stared off into the distance. Growing worried, he spoke her name again to no avail. "Frisk, what's wrong?" He asked with concern in his voice, but just as he was about to grab her by her shoulders, Sans grabbed his hand and pulled him away. "Stop. She's having another episode. I'll help her."

Her head turned once more, her body slightly trembling as she began to take steps back. "G-guns… they're shooting...h-help...help...help!" She squealed as she trembled more, stumbling back but luckily, Sans had caught her.

"Kiddo… Hey...Hey… look at me. Frisk, it's Sans. I'm here. We're here, together. Dunkle Sans will protect you from them, don't worry. Breathe… breathe… slowly…"

Her eyes had gotten bigger, but they still moved around erratically as though she could see other things that weren't there. "S-sans…?" She whimpered as the skeleton enveloped her in his arms as she continued to shake.

King Asgore fiddled his thumb anxiously. Frisk… was nothing like Chara. Not that he was trying to compare the pain that they had both gone through, but he wished he knew how to better act. Sans seemed to know.

He turned when he heard footsteps coming their way. Dr. Goodman walked closer while the other humans glanced with hushed voices.

"She is suffering from an anxiety attack. How long—?" he began to ask, but King Asgore turned to him and silenced him with a raise of his hand. "Please. Sans is helping her. This place brings unhappy thoughts to her, I'm sure."

Behind him, Jose and Isidoro watched on with concern. "She was never like this." Jose whispered, watching as her body seemed to want to go limp, yet she convulsed as though she was going to vomit. That short skeleton, no matter what, would only hold on with his forehead on hers, whispering to her as she spoke fast of things that didn't quite make sense.

"I want to be a good father for her. I must learn what to do to calm her down." King Asgore spoke softly, looking over his shoulder where he could see her biological father look their way before walking away. "I want a second chance, and I will do anything for it. I'll be a good father to her. I promise, Dr. Goodman. Even if I am a talking goat, as you say. I can never replace him, but I will do anything to fill that void so that _this_ doesn't happen anymore."

As they watched the girl calm down, the town around them seemed curious and scared of the supernatural beings that came with the mobsters that had saved them all from certain death. Minutes passed. After a quarter of an hour passed, the girl had finally regained control of herself. Shaky, but she was herself, nonetheless.

She could see the remainder of the town gather far from them, watching as they whispered to themselves. The mobsters had brought the devil himself. Satan walked amongst them. A demon had arrived to their town, along with two undead. The little girl who lived, who escaped certain death walked hand in hand with the devil and the undead skeleton. She smiled and hugged them. They walked to the other side of town where the funeral for the dance lady was going to be held.

When Frisk and company arrived to what was once her old home, they could see that although it was riddled with bullet holes, it had been cleaned up. Flowers adorned the entryway, roses white and red all throughout gate. The little girl turned to the side of the home where the window to her room was located at.

The day before the massacre, a cold and rainy day… she mustered all her strength and jumped out of the window, running after the man she thought loved her. He was never really there for her, was he?

He appeared at the doorway, his sunglasses covering his eyes and his thin lips pressed tightly together as he clenched his jaw. He motioned them inside using a tilt of his head, then turned and disappeared into the darkness of her old home.

"He was always there for mama."

*********°*********•*********°*********

Candles lit the sombre living room, where two caskets lay, one smaller than the other. Several men were beginning to take that said coffin out of the room, its thick black metal casing far too heavy for two people to carry. It was adorned with gold intricate designs, but no view inside unlike the other coffin where Florence could see it all. Her mother… dressed in her old wedding gown and adorned with roses on the inside. Her head rested on a white satin pillow, and her coffin seemed to be made of glass. It had some things attached on the corners, so perhaps it wasn't all of the coffin…?

It had gone completely past Frisk's head that the second coffin was for her, however her two guardians noticed quite immediately. Leaving Frisk to Asgore, Sans skulked over to Don Pablo, his blue eye flickering with menace whenever other men seemed to even dare look at him funny. "heh. expecting to find a dead body in the mountains, eh? well at least you can probably get a refund on the coffin buddy, 'cause if it ever finds its host… W..e..'r..e.. G..o..n..n..a.. H..a..v..e.. A.. B..a..d.. T..i..m..e."

Sans looked ahead with his lazy grin, his eye sockets dark and void of light. To his side, the mob boss seemed to flinch, his skin rilling up with goosebumps as his head tilted down to see the short skeleton who then turned to him, his hand extending out to him. "The name's Sans. Sans the Skeleton, the primary caretaker of Frisk, or the girl you abandoned. Don't worry, no child support needed here, just a promise that you'll leave her to us, and we'll never see ya ugly mug again."

A few feet away, Frisk was next to the glass coffin, her eyes looking down at the corpse of her mother. In front of Sans, the mob boss cleared his throat and regained his composure. "I'm afraid I can't do that. Florence is the heir to one of the most powerful mob families in the crime world, and her grandmother is expecting her to take over. In fact, if you're half as strong as you say you are, you're gonna take my offer: yous and your kind are gonna establish whatever shindig nation in this here land, and YOU are gonna work for me and babysit the brat and keep her safe from everyone. In exchange I'll pump some money into this crappy town, keep the grandmother busy and I promise I won't harm the girl. And that… that's the promise of a mourning husband and father. I can't be _there_ until it's all over, and I have work to do after this. The guy we scared off yesterday has it out for our blood, and he'll come back to finish what he started. She did kill one of his sons after all. She started this war."

Opposite of Sans, Don Pablo extended his hand. With his free hand, he lowered his sunglasses and watched as the light returned to the eye sockets of Sans' skull. "...why the sudden change?" Sans asked, his hand hovering next to Don Pablo's.

"Why else?" Don Pablo smirked, his expression soon falling. "...or else she'll never forgive me. Besides, you are my wife's keeper. As long as you're here, she's here, in her own way. I can live with that. I can still prove myself to her. So, Sans… I look forward to working with you."

It was then Sans realized that so long as Florencia was by their side, this monster could be kept at bay. With a firm grip, the two menacing figures locked hands in the small room. Oblivious to their conversation, Frisk stared at the large photograph of herself with her mother when she was younger, shortly before it all changed. It hung above the coffin on the wall where flowers and candles adorned it. "...he still loves us." she whispered with a small smile, her head turning back to where Don Pablo crossed his arms now. He immediately turned his head when she looked at him, and he disappeared into her mother's room.

*********°*********•*********°*********

Later that night, shortly after midnight, the coffin was moved outside of the home where in the backyard, Florencia's garden recovered from the ordeal and was adorned by more roses and a few mourning wreaths. Tiki torches adorned the backyard, and light strings went around the area, illuminating the area around with the help of the moon above.

Having arrived earlier that night, Isidoro and Gerson arrived, bringing with them a bandaged mummy on a wheelchair. It was apparent that it made Frisk uneasy, and she hid behind Asgore.

Finally, the uneasiness was broken by the arrival of a priest who looked apprehensive about the monsters in the backyard. "Dios mio… liberame del mal." (Dear God… deliver me from evil.) he gasped as he passed by Asgore. He was very visually shaken by all this, but by the looks of Don Pablo, the priest was most likely here against his will.

"Look Father, you're the priest that Florencia confided in, and she deserves her last rites. You were all for it just two days ago, what gives?" asked the Don, taking off his glasses, which perhaps made it impossible to see at night. He glanced at Asgore and laughed. "Don't tell me this giant goat intimidates you? I'm more of a devil than that furball. That thing kept the girl safe, hell, all of those monsters did. I'm keeping this town safe for now, but if you push my buttons I won't hesitate to leave it to its demise. The choice is yours, priest. Do the right thing."

Shaken by his threat, the priest took a step back and looked at Frisk, then at the way she held the hand of the giant beast beside her. Innocence in her eyes, warmth and certainly no evil. Though intimidating, the goat did not appear so evil itself. Glancing to the impending tomb, he saw the resting body of the peculiar woman. A case so strange, so bizarre, that some folk that begun to speculate she had become a saint of sorts. A body that did not rot, that did not smell of decay, but rather of roses.

"She did not deserve her early death, and neither did the town folk. She was bringing this town together, and she was removing herself and her child from the evil that surrounds you. Pablo, you brought this blight to our town and your wife. Nothing you do can atone for that which stains your conscious."

A sharp inhale broke the silence that had followed the sermon. "...yeah... I'm aware of that. Normally I don't let people talk to me like that… but considering the close relationship you had with my late wife, I will look the other way. In fact, there is a favor I must ask now. The funeral… it will go on as planned. My beloved daughter was found in the woods yesterday and she's resting with her mother. There is no Florence here, and the girl that crawled out from the mountains with the monsters was a girl that got lost years ago. She wishes to make peace with everyone, and out of the kindness of my heart, my _achy_ , _achy_ heart, I find myself seeing a need to establish something good in honor of my wife. The girl will stay here and anyone that messes with her, messes with me. The monsters are under my protection."

The priest stared at Don Pablo with an open mouth, his gaze looking at King Asgore who also looked just as shocked. "W-what? Why?" asked the king, but quickly Sans shook his head. "king asgore, don't look a gift horse in the mouth, heh. and that's princess frisk, not just some girl. ambassador of the monsters, seeking world peace, and all that."

The priest immediately shook his head. "That's a travesty! I do not know what their intentions are—" he began to say, but stopped when King Asgore jumped and snapped his fingers. "Of course! A sign of good will… Mr. Priest, I was hesitant to bring my wife, Toriel, here, but I will bring her to heal your wounded… will that be good? A-and we can help you rebuild." pleaded King Asgore, looking at Frisk with desperate eyes.

Frisk gulped. "T-they're good people." she whimpered, taking a step forward. In the dim light, her soft face appeared a little older, and to the priest, it reminded him of the departed woman. "They helped me. And they made me feel at home, with love and friends by my side all this time. I know they look different, but they're really kind and caring. Please… give us a chance to see the real world. If not for them, then…" Frisk asked, looking around. "...Then for the town. W-w-we will help you by rebuilding and healing, and then we'll leave if you don't trust us. Please…?"

The wind blew and the fires around them flickered as the sounds of crickets and owls sounded in the near distance. Frisk held her breath, her large eyes pleading as she held her two hands together. Behind her, among the wall of men in black, the tall skeleton seemed to be sweating a little. "WOWIE… IT'S SO QUIET…" A few feet away, Gerson shot Papyrus a look and cleared his throat. "OH… SORRY HUMANS."

With that, the priest silently moved toward the back of the basket where Florencia's head rested, her crystal coffin now placed inside a bigger one made of metal.

"...We are gathered here tonight, under the light of the moon that bore witness to the death of an angel and her mother. Though we cannot be certain as to what fate has cast down upon the child, we can be certain that heaven awaits those who are worthy of its glory. This brave woman once told me that there is goodness in everyone, and that no soul is lost until judgement day comes for them. She believed that everyone deserves a second chance, despite their background, and despite their past actions. She believed that atonement of one's sin can be achieved within someone's lifetime, that God would not leave us without hope. Salvation, she said, was not guaranteed, nor given. Salvation, she said… was earned. She spoke of fate and destiny shortly before her death… a foreshadow of her demise. She said to me, that she would never rest easy knowing that she could have done more. She wanted to change the world, one kindness at a time. In her honor, and for her kindness… I will yield. With that said… I will reveal her last words to me, shortly before the shooting began. She said…"

The priest looked down at the resting face. "...Some things happen for a reason, and some things are meant to be. Either way, I am at peace, knowing I've done all that I can."

Frisk looked up, feeling the stare of the priest. "Out of context, it sounds too eerie, but I can assure you, she spoke of her meeting with Don Pablo. She wanted an end to the violence, and she felt that perhaps she could save _you_ from it." Frisk watched as the priest turned to her father, who only looked back with guilt.

*********°*********•*********°*********

The midday sunshine shone through the window next to the bed where Frisk slept. She opened her eyes, turning to see Papyrus sitting on the floor with this back to the wall and his skull covered with a towel. Sitting on a chair, Isidoro read a book while Jose seemed to also be sitting on the floor while on his phone.

"...I fell asleep?" Frisk asked, startling the two bodyguards. "Oh yeah… you fell asleep after the priest started the rites. I can't blame you… bible reading can be pretty sleep inducing. Anyways, the two goats are outside helping the village along with the other monsters. The woman goat is a fast healer though! She's been at it since she got here."

Frisk perked up. "Toriel is here? What about Dunkle Sans?" she asked, sitting up and combing her hair using her hand. She turned to Papyrus who removed the towel off his skull with an annoyed look. "WHO PUT THIS ON ME?! WHY?" he asked, looking at the two humans and noticing that Jose looked apologetic. "Sorry bro… skeletons are scary when they're sleeping."...I'M SCARY…? W-WHY YES I AM! I AM A ROYAL GUARD! FEAR ME!"

Frisk broke into a wide smile, giggling as she shook her head. "No Papy… we need to be nice and kind. Is Sans here or is he still gone?" she asked, noticing that Papyrus seemed a little alarmed. "HE STAYED HOME. HE'S DOING… SOMETHING? I THINK."

Frisk nodded. "Okay… Okay. I'm going out there to help. I'm going to do my best!" Frisk exclaimed, putting on her best determined face as she bounced out from the bed and darted through her old home, almost like she used to.

Once outside, Frisk ran to the center of the town where she could makeshift bunk beds and mother Toriel and Dr. Goodman leaning over someone who looked deathly white.

"Yes… the bullet lodged itself in this particular area." Dr. Goodman advised, watching as Toriel knitted her eyebrows and focused her hands above the chest of a woman. "Yes… It's difficult alright… but I think she'll live. Thank you Dr. Goodman… please evaluate the next patient."

Over to the other side of the town, she could see Grillby in the distance along with a large fire pit and what appeared to be the priest. Opposite of them, she could see Gerson digging.

"Tory? Are you alright? Do you need to rest?" asked Asgore as he began to carry the woman that Toriel had just healed. With a shake of her head, Toriel let out a heavy sigh. "No, I can't. Time is precious for these people, I can't afford to stop now."

As Frisk approached mother Toriel, she was stopped by Jose who grabbed her shoulder. "Hey… I know how we can help. Let's help them make more beds." Jose suggested, nodding over to a group of men and women who seemed to be hard at work using wood and nails.

Frisk bit her lip. "Oh… okay."

Toiling hard, Frisk, Jose and Papyrus helped as best as they could and despite the stares and hushed voices, the rest of the day passed by rather quickly. Before Frisk knew it, it was nightfall once more.

By this time, the town had come together to build cover over the makeshift hospital. Despite the great progress Toriel had made, there were still many people left to be healed, but all the emergency and critically injured were accounted for. On the other side, the great fire continued to rage on, controlled by Grillby and luckily it didn't smell as bad anymore.

It was quiet in the town. It… wasn't welcoming, but it wasn't hostile either.

Sitting by a small fire, Frisk looked up and saw the priest make his way over to her. Beside her, Papyrus was sprawled on the ground, snoring from all the hard would he did… he did after all, work thrice as hard as everyone! She smiled as she watched the priest sit next to Papyrus without hesitation. "I'm… humbled." he said, looking into the fire. "I cannot be certain of their intentions, but they have displayed great sympathy and compassion to us, who have shunned them. I apologize for the town's apprehension… and I welcome you all to our town with open arms. I cannot say that the town will do the same, but… I sympathize with them. I have spoken to Grillby, the man on fire. He explained some of the history, and I think I came come to a solution for us all. Please… speak to me tomorrow, with the King and Queen. I will be in the church after I have finished giving the last rites to the last group tomorrow after midday. Good night little one…"

Frisk watched as the priest got up and left, her eyes wondering to mother Toriel who lay on a patch of hay that some folk gathered for her after she collapsed. Beside her, Asgore sat in vigil, his hands holding hers tightly. He said that she would be alright after a night's rest and some tea in the morning… but even so, he seemed so worried. Frisk understood why. She looked down at her hands where her once calloused hands were once more aching and with blisters. She looked at Papyrus and smiled. "You must be so tired too…"

*********°*********•*********°*********

Far away, deep in the underground, Sans stared at his supercomputer and shook his head. "I don't understand… everything looks fine, and yet… something is reaching out to us. What is it, though… what _are_ you…?" Sans whispered to himself, looking intently into the camera and noticing a small glitch in the sky, tiny and almost indistinguishable if it were not for his data telling him there was something wrong. He turned to his side where a map of the underground was. "I don't understand… there's something I'm missing. Here… this area… there's something missing, but what…!" Sans asked himself, his fist hitting the area near waterfall.

On the other side of the veil, Dr. Gaster stood tall, his hand gently patting his breast pocket where Florencia continued to slumber. "What indeed… something sinister, or something harmless? I wonder. Any change, Chara?" asked Aster, turning to the girl who looked around the machines and shook her head. "No, everything's fine. If Vinnie was here, something would be out of place. And by the look of the subtle changes, it can't be her. No, this is something else completely… and I think I'm to blame. I think I know what it is." Chara answered, looking at the map and looking at the circles where Sans had pinpointed some of the anomalies.

Dr. Gaster looked at her expectedly. "...Well? Don't leave me hanging, child. Speak!"

Chara gulped. "...I think… I think another timeline is knocking, and they want _**us**_ back. The game I started, I… never ended it. I didn't destroy their timeline so… the anomalies, it's the timelines converging together."

"...Timelines… converging? I've wandered through timelines, but I've never seen them cross… theoretically speaking… if… it happened…" Gaster spoke, his voice trailing off as sparks flew.

Chara grasped her face in distress. "I KNOW! This is my fault! Which is why we have to fix it. I hate to drag you in this, but we were in there. You, me… Sans, Grillby… we have to go back. It's the only way. We have to fix this on the other side where we have bodies. We can't do jack here, not without… oh shit."

With an angry sigh, Gaster shot Chara an incredulous look. "What is it now? What can _**possibly**_ be worse?"

With a sarcastic laugh, Chara pointed to the supercomputer. "We're gonna need her, and probably destroy her afterward. You know… cause Vinnie is in every timeline. And then… I can destroy the link to the other timelines. Hopefully I can disable our timeline's link too. But that's **if** we can get Vinnie to work. There's a possibility that she might know… and if she does… we're screwed."


End file.
